


A Strange Set of Circumstances: The Philosopher's Stone

by Azorrah_lee



Series: A Strange Set of Circumstance [1]
Category: Glee, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Crossover, Fantasy, Gen, M/M, Mystery, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-05 01:04:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 57,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15853071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azorrah_lee/pseuds/Azorrah_lee
Summary: Follow Kurt as he begins his adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He will encounter new friends in Hermione, Harry and Ron as they deal with the mysteries that obscure the truths of their lives.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This Fic was originally posted on Fanfiction.net and has been added here at the urging of a reader. This part was written five years ago. This Fic follow a twisted version of Cannon; some elements were picked from other fandoms and others are of my own creation.

If you had been walking down Grimmauld Place in the cold waking hours of May 27th, you would have been treated to quite the sight. A diminutive creature exited one of the townhouses clutching a small bundle close to his chest, he muttered to himself in a voice that was rough and coarse like sandpaper, “Mistress mustn’t be angry with Kreacher, He must only do as told.”

The small figure stumbled along to the edge of the front yard, looking over his shoulder and surveying the area around him at frequent intervals; fear filled his bloodshot eyes. “Hush, Master.” He said to the bundle as the new-born regained conciseness and threatened to expose his betrayal, “Kreacher will soon be done.”

The house elf stopped in front of number 13 Grimmauld Place, he laid the bundle down gently on the welcome mat; he knocked three times with precision and force before he apparited away.

***

Christine Hummel was woken by the sharp knocking on the door; she could barely remember what she had been dreaming of mere moments before. She scaled down the stairs and opened the door, shotgun in hand. She stood there for a moment, wondering what sort of kid plays ding-dong-ditch at three in the morning but those thoughts were soon halted by the soft whimpering of unknown origin. When her eyes met the soft supple face of the new born, she melted onto the floor, “Burt!” she screamed, completely disregarding the fact that their neighbours were asleep, “Burt come down here!”

“I don’t want to!”

“Albert Bartholomew James Hummel!” Christina’s voice was firm and strong, “Come down here this instance!”

Burt stumbled down the stairs in a sleepy messy daze but all the sleep was scared out of him by the sight of his wife standing with a shotgun in one hand and a baby in the other, “Chris, when did we get a baby?”

“Apparently, just now.” She smiled brightly.

Burt looked up and down the deserted street, looking them over with care, “Well,” he turned to his wife and leaned closer to the bundle, taking in the perfect facial features, moonlit grey eyes and brown hair of the new born, “She’s so perfect, we should name her Elizabeth.”

“Like my mother?”

“Like my grandmother.”

“Wait, we’re not sure if it is a girl,” she took a peak under the fleece blanket that was wrapped around the baby, “It’s a boy.”

“I still want to name him Elizabeth.”

“How about Kurt?” She asked with a smile, “because of the full moon, it means wolf in Turkish.”

“Kurt Elizabeth Hummel,” Burt leaned and kissed his wife on the forehead then his son, “My son.”

~0~

_Eleven years and One Month later…_

Kurt began his day the same way he had the entire summer; he got up and prepared for the day ahead. He read his library books, watched his soap operas and he spent the rest of the day waiting for something he didn’t know would come. The Hudson-Hummel household was abuzz with activity and Kurt would react to every little movement with optimism that it would put an end to this endless fruitless waiting. Summer was almost over and he had spent the entirety of it in the same regimental rut of waiting.

“Kurt,” Carole said stepping into his personal space and breaking his concentration, “You want to come shopping with me? We’ll go down to the farmers market and then maybe we’ll go to Woollies and get you a new scarf for the winter.”

“Carole, Carole, Carole… poor naïve Carole,” Kurt smiled sweetly and tilted his head to the side, “I’m eleven, you can’t bribe me with a scarf, you have to offer at least three and a new messenger bag for school.” Kurt relished in the distraction from the menace of waiting for something that would simply never arrive, this was worse than waiting for his parents to tell him he was adopted and that was obvious because he’d looked nothing like his dad or even his mom when she was alive. When they got to the market Kurt jumped out of the car and ran ahead of Carole enthusiastically, feeling free as the warm summer air grazed the contours of his face; it was truly a lovely day to be out in London and Kurt wasn’t going to let it go to waste.

“How’s about we make chicken pot pie tonight?” Carole said as she picked out a variety of vegetables for the week ahead, “Or would you rather have stroganoff?”

“Stroganoff!” Kurt said as he smelled the mushrooms sautéing in the back of his mind, he twirled on the spot and hoped from foot to foot with the grace of the ballerina he was in training to become. He danced on the sidewalk without a care in the world, it didn’t matter that the new school year was almost upon them; the reality of returning to school wouldn’t hit him till after he visited his grandparents farm in Sheffield. He carried on dancing from stall to stall and from store to store almost forgetting about that nagging anticipation that had plagued him all summer, almost.

“Let’s hurry along sweetheart, Finn needs to be picked up from soccer.” Carole then corralled him into the back of the station wagon. Kurt was looking out the window, watching intently as suburban houses passed by at snail pace with nothing on the radio.

Finn was sitting on the sidewalk waiting for them; his face lit up at the sight of his mother’s Volvo but darkened instantly as he retreated into himself, Kurt knew instantly that this meant his brother was about to get into trouble for something big and took the opportunity to confess to his most recent transgression. “I broke that crystal vase your sister gave you as a wedding gift, it shattered and then I went over to Caryn place so I could use her as an alibi.”

“You?” she asked as she pulled into the parking spot, “How?”

Kurt shrugged “I don’t know,” he thought back to the strange day, “I looked at it funny, because you know how much I hated it, and it spontaneously shattered.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asked in a soft maternal voice.

“I was so confused that I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“I blamed your father for that.” Her voice suddenly distraught, “Aren’t you sorry?”

“I am sorry.” He said shyly.

“Sorry it happened or sorry it upset me.”

“Sorry it happened.” Finn got into the car and sat silently, “How was practice honey? Did it end early because you could’ve called me?”

“No,” he sat twiddling his thumbs, Kurt could smell the fear radiating off his older- only by a couple of weeks- brother and he was revelling in it. “Practice ran normally.”

“Then why are you here and not still on the field with everyone else?” Kurt asked with a devilishly crooked smile on his face.

“Are you hurt?” Carole asked inspecting him and showering him in kisses.

“No.” he mumbled softly.

“What was that?” Kurt asked with pursed lips.

“I got suspended for fighting.” Finn screamed at Kurt, “Kurt’s buddy Arnold accused me of cheating because I scored a curved top corner goal over his head… from the centre line.”

“Did you cheat?” Carole asked calmly.

“No.” Finn paused, “At least I don’t think I cheated.”

“Well then why did you have to resort to violence?” Kurt asked seeing that Carole was too casual about this.

“I always tell you to be diplomatic.” Carole said sternly, “No sticky toffee cake for either of you.”

Finn gave Kurt a questioning look as if to say ‘Why the hell was that so easy,’ to which Kurt simply beamed ‘you owe me,’ but didn’t say a word more on the matter for the rest of their drive home. He played his numbers game, trying to count to a thousand using the numbers on the licence plates of the cars he’d pass on the way home; once again he tried to prolong his distraction before he returned to the pointless endless waiting. As they approached their townhouse Kurt noted that his dad kept peering out the window in an antsy fashion. ‘We are so dead.’ Kurt beamed to Finn who simply whimpered in response.

Kurt helped Carole carry in the groceries, something he never did, in hopes that it would ease the imminent situation but he couldn’t help but feel like something big was about to go down and he had the suspicion that it was beyond his control. They were greeted at the door by his dad who ushered Carole into the Kitchen with hushed but assertive tones; Kurt peered into the lounge to see a stern elegant woman who was a little along in her years, he didn’t recognize her though.

Kurt scurried into the kitchen. “She says she’s here to speak to Kurt and Finn?” Carole asked in a hushed voice, “about what exactly?”

“She said she wasn’t at liberty to discuss the matter with me.” His dad’s brows were knitted tightly together and his breaths were shallow, “I only let her in because I wasn’t about to leave an old lady on the veranda.”

“Hi, I’m Finn.” came from the lounge; he saw his dad and Carole face palm simultaneously.

He immediately joined his brother because he knew that failing to do so would result in his exclusion from the conversation, “And I’m Kurt, it is a pleasure to meet you.” He threw in his money making smile in for good measure.

“Good afternoon, it’s a pleasure to meet you both;” as Kurt heard her stern yet maternal voice he was overwhelmed, the waiting and longing seemed to have reached its end, “I’m Professor Minerva McGonagall from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I am thankful to have been received so warmly.”

“There’s no such thing as magic.” Kurt said sternly, he gave her a piercing stare but when she didn’t so much as flinch- he stepped down.

“Do you believe in magic Mr Hudson?” she asked, Kurt noted how she pursed he lips to punctuate her sentences much like he did and it unsettled him.

“Well…” Finn had his classic confused look, “I’m not sure.”

“What is there not to be sure about?” Kurt snapped at him, “Does this seem like a Disney movie? Because that is the only place magic is real.”

“Well, that goal today was phenomenally impossible considering I suck at soccer,” He said in a soft voice, “you blew up a vase with your mind and we do speak to each other with our minds.”

“No. You have been working hard on your soccer skills; that vase exploding was not my fault and we read each other’s facial expressions not each other’s minds.” Kurt quipped, he stepped closer to Finn, “if we believe this then we’ll have Charles Xavier telling us we’re mutants next.”

“Lemon flavoured Fanta.”

“What did you just say?”

“You’re craving Lemon flavoured Fanta,” Finn said confidently. Kurt considered for a moment the existence of magic and what it meant for him.

Their parents had joined them a while back but were yet to say anything; Professor McGonagall sat on the couch smiling to herself whilst Kurt ran the idea through his mind. She handed them each an envelope. Kurt inspected his envelope closely; it was addressed to him, the paper was heavy and clearly expensive, it was sealed with a wax seal like they did in medieval times, the letter itself looked to be ancient and somehow lost to time; Kurt read the letter inviting him to attend the supposed magic school but still he wasn’t convinced.

“You're going to need more than twenty-five pence stationary to convince me.” Burt said defensively shielding Kurt from the woman.

“I don’t know Burt,” Finn said with a smirk, “This looks like fifty pence worth of work.”

“Wingardium Leviosa.” She said with a flick of a short little… dare he say, wand. Kurt didn’t feel anything happening but then suddenly he saw the floor get farther away as the couch began to levitate; Carole and his dad held on to the armrests for dear life, Finn giggled and Kurt had an epiphany: Magic was real.

“Put us down!” Carole said in a panicked voice, “Please.”

The couch gently descended and came to rest, “were my birth parents wizards?” Kurt asked quietly, he’d never cared to know much about his birth parents but now there was something he had inherited from them, a potential family tie, and it had his curiosity peaked.

“Yes, they were.” Professor McGonagall let out a defeated sigh.

“Could you tell me about them?” Kurt asked gently.

“I’m not privy to such knowledge,” The elder tried to reach out to him but he chose to stay still and listen, “I only know that they probably gave you up under the pretence that you were a squib, a non-magical being born of magical parents, hoping you would integrate better into the muggle world.”

“Why would they think that?” Kurt asked inquisitively, he didn’t quite understand what she meant, “You don’t know me and yet you know I’m magical, why would my birth parents believe otherwise?”

“Well, your case is quiet peculiar.” Professor McGonagall looked him dead in the eye and spoke in an even tone, “When a child who possesses magic is born they are automatically entered into our books by a magic quill that detects your magical core; your name wasn’t entered into our books until you were six and half, nobody on managing staff knows why or how because there has never been such an event in known history.”

“Will he be able to keep up with the other kids who’ve had their magic longer?” his father asked while he ran through what he was being told, he listened as Professor McGonagall assured his father that he was on par with the kids of his age in development. He thought about the year he was six and what might have changed but nothing seemed to click until his father said it, “Could his magic been drawn out by a tragedy because that was the year he lost his mother.”

“As I’ve said Mr Hummel, nobody is sure what the case is but we would be honoured if both of them attended our school.”

Kurt took a moment, ‘How are you feeling about this?’ he beamed to Finn. He really hoped that Finn would be the brother he always was and keep him grounded because he was losing his mind.

‘I have magic!’ Finn happily sang, ‘I’m going to be just like Superman! Aren’t you excited?’ Kurt knew that he couldn’t tell Finn that he had never been so afraid in his life, it would ruin his moment.

“Kurt, are you okay?” Carole asked him.

He turned to her and with genuine enthusiasm beamed, “Finn and I are going to a boss magical boarding school! I’m over the moon!”

“We’re going to be like Wiccan and Thor!” Finn said practically jumping out of his seat, his eyes shone with the excitement that fuelled Kurt.

~0~

Kurt held onto Finn as McGonagall lead their mixed family through an unsavoury London pub, he still questioned her sanity but followed none the less. They were led out into a small courtyard that was far too small for their little group. McGonagall stepped forward and tapped a series of bricks; before Kurt’s eyes the wall separated and revealed what looked like a town square out of a medieval fantasy novel.

“Welcome to Diagon Alley,” McGonagall said with a wide smile, “the shopping capital of magical Britain. This is where you are going to find everything you need for your first year.”

“This is your shopping epicentre?” Kurt couldn’t help sounding disappointed, “You have so much to learn from the real world, have you heard of a shopping mall?”

“Kurt, be polite!” his father gave him a disapproving look as they were lead down a narrow path to a tall white building that looked like it was made of flawless alabaster, Gringotts Wizarding Bank the sign read.

There were hideous little creatures milling about the bank, ‘Kurt, I’m scared.’ He heard Finn’s voice in his head and knew that his brother hadn’t factored the possibility that this life of magic they had undertaken wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows. “Professor McGonagall, would you care to educate us about this magical species.”

‘I am here, you don’t need to be afraid, they’re probably harmless’ he beamed to Finn, squeezing his hand.

“These are Goblins; they are highly intelligent and have an aptitude for finance. They have a history of conflict with wizards but with each side equally to blame.” She smiled reassuringly before assuring them that they had nothing to fear. Kurt stood close to Finn whilst their parents and the professor exchanged their pounds for gold coins. They were in and out of the bank; as soon as they were outside Kurt felt Finn relax.

“That must be heavy,” Finn said looking at my dad holding a bag filled with the gold coins.

“Funnily enough they’re light.” He threw the small purse to Finn who caught it with one hand, “see what I mean, it is like-”

“Magic?” Professor McGonagall said with a smile, “Let’s start by getting you’re books.”

“There are only eight books on the list,” Kurt said as they were lead into a book shop, “Do you have any recommendations for enrichment that will help me get on par with the student who’ve been around magic their whole lives?”

“Hogwarts: A History could make for some useful reading.” She said as she took books off the shelves in twos, “Here it is.”

“Just one copy, Finn isn’t the enrichment kind of student.” He smiled at his brother who seemed to care more about the fact that the books were floating as opposed to the fact that they were the gateway to a new world, “Unless there’s one about sport that has lots of pictures.”

“I’m good with the standard books,” he said scowling at Kurt’s little joke.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will also provide you with greater insight into the wizarding world.” She said taking the book off the shelf; Kurt was bouncing at the prospect of spending the next month learning about a new subject.

“Next on the list is a wand.” Finn said as they exited the book store, McGonagall led them to a store where she insisted they enter alone whilst she dragged their parents off to get the rest of their equipment, “Ollivander's Wand Shop? After you.”

Kurt entered the shop, it was dusty and baron which unsettled him slightly, the walls were completely covered by what seemed to be long narrow boxes. Kurt rang the bell and waited to be serviced, an elderly gentleman with wild white hair appeared from a back room and smiled at them, “How can I help you?”

“We’d like two wands.” Finn said with a smile.

“Would two wands like you? That is the question.” The man tested with a slightly crazy look, he pointed at Finn, “You first.”

The man then measured Finn from top to bottom, taking close note of his great height, he handed Finn wand after wand for a good half an hour which bored Kurt out of his head. First he sat quietly in the chair in the corner but soon that lost its allure so he decided to take a look around, reading the descriptions on some of boxes as he danced about the shop. Finn kept destroying object after object and the old man kept repairing them. Kurt’s curiosity was piqued by the wand sitting in the window display, it didn’t have a description but it was so perfectly pale and beautiful that Kurt couldn’t draw his attention away from it. He observed the wand for a moment longer before looking over his shoulder and making a decision, whilst the old man had his back turned he grabbed the wand; the moment his hand came into contact with the smooth cool wood a strong gust of wind swept through the shop causing the dust to spiral around Kurt, the furniture and store inventory began to fly wildly around the room. He dropped the wand, the air stilled and everything fell to the ground with a thud.

“That wand has been in this shop for more than two thousand years,” the old man said as he stepped toward Kurt, “it is unknown how old it is but it was with my ancestors when they first arrived in England. Over the years many have come to try it out, including Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw who are both founders of Hogwarts, hoping it would choose them; drawn in by the allure of its mystery and after all this time the wand has made its choice.” He picked the wand up and handed it to Kurt.

“I’m sorry; I know I shouldn’t have touched what didn’t belong to me.” Kurt said remorsefully, “I didn’t mean to destroy your shop.”

“Never you mind,” Mr Ollivander waved his wand and everything moved back to where it should be, “I don’t know much about this wand, it’s an eleven and a quarter inch olive wand with a core that is an unknown red feather. I cannot guarantee its stability or anything because its core is unknown but I would be honoured if you would have this wand.”

“That is so cool!” Finn said draping his body over Kurt’s shoulders, “say you’ll take it, heck, if you don’t I will!”

“Why not?” Kurt said with a nervous smile, “Thank you.”

“As for you,” Mr Ollivander turned to Finn, “this wand is the only one you haven’t tried in your size, if this one doesn’t pick you then you’ll have to struggle with a small wand all your life; it’s a seventeen and three quarter inch oak dragon heartstring.”

Finn cautiously took the wand and gave it a shy wave to marvellous results, Kurt saw Finn release a breath he knew his brother had been holding for a while.

~0~

One Month Later…

Kurt anxiously held onto his new pet kneazle, furiously stroking her black fur as his parents lead him and Finn through King’s Cross Station, he was so nervous about living so far from his dad for the first time. He had never been so grateful for the company of Carole and Finn, one for each of them, as they parted ways on platform 9¾. Kurt had promised himself he wouldn’t cry but clearly Finn had made no such promises and was blubbering like a four year old on the first day of kindergarten, Kurt had been trying his best to comfort the bigger boy as they made their way through the narrow passage and into a compartment occupied by a girl and a boy about their age.

“Hi, do you mind if my brother and I join you?” he asked politely with a toothache inducing smile and holding his kitten in the least villainous manner he knew.

“Come in,” the girl with wild bushy brown hair said with a smile that exposed her large front teeth, “I’m Hermione Granger, it’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

“Kurt Hummel,” he said as he hauled his luggage into the storage compartment overhead, “This is my brother Finn, he’s suffering from separation anxiety, and this is Bomballerina.”

“Neville Longbottom,” the fourth said in a voice barely above a whisper. Kurt looked at the shy boy and it seemed that the more he looked the more he retreated into himself and it intrigued him, “This is Trevor.”

“That cage is empty,” Finn said suddenly halting his blubbering, “Or is it invisible? Is it both?”

“Oh no!” Kurt watched as the boy paled, panic written all over his face, “I’ve lost him again!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you look for him,” Finn said with a goofy smile, thankful to have found someone more hopeless than himself, “if he isn’t invisible.”

“What is Trevor?” Kurt asked cautiously.

“A toad,” Neville said with a small smile. Hermione and Kurt yelped at the thought, jumping onto the seat and clasping each other, “Trevor is harmless, I swear.”

“I’m more worried about getting warts,” Kurt said not letting go of Hermione; he strategically omitted the fact that he had an irrational fear of all things with a slimy texture.

“Frogs and toads don’t give you warts,” Hermione said with a chuckle, “That’s just a myth.”

“A month ago magic was a myth,” Kurt said with a raised brow.

“What about cootees? You aren’t scared of those?” Finn said making kissy faces at him and Hermione; Kurt seriously worried about his brother’s mental development because that was a comment he only expected from a first grader, “Kurt and Hermione sitting in the tree-”

“I will K-I-L-L you.” Kurt sang along with a smile, Finn lost his cheer and mumbled an apology, “Let’s find Trevor before he gets too far, let’s split into teams; Finn you go with Hermione and I’ll go with Neville.”

“Thanks for helping me look for him,” Neville smiled shyly.

“Don’t mention it… or him,” Kurt shuddered as they went off in different directions with Bomballerina weaving between his legs as he walked down the narrow passage.

They went from compartment to compartment but it seemed nobody had seen the toad; Kurt grew tired of this fruitless search but carried on in the hopes that it was the first step to friendship. They came to the first compartment that was closed, knocked firmly and then forcefully slid the door open.

“Who do you think you are?” a boy with platinum blonde hair said standing to meet Kurt’s gaze, they stared each other down for a moment before Kurt averted his gaze to check his nails.

“Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, the pleasure is all yours.” Kurt said with a sassy smirk, Two large boys with a loutish dim-witted demeanour about them stood to flank the little blonde, Kurt adjusted his hair and without acknowledging either of them carried on, “We’re looking for a toad named Trevor, have you seen him?”

“Do you know who I am?” the blond protested.

“Nope but you know who I am.”

“And who the hell are you?”

“Kurt Elizabeth Hummel,” he said in an emotionless voice to contrast the evident anger in the blonde’s voice, “Are you hard of hearing or simply stupid?”

“Huh?”

“Definitely stupid,” The three onlookers who had been silent throughout their little exchange each let out a laugh.

The blonde gave his lieutenants a dark stare which immediately silenced them, he drew his wand and stuck it under Kurt’s chin by which time Kurt had his pressed to the blonde’s temple, “I’m Draco Malfoy and you best take your fat friend and go before we have a problem.”

“Let’s go Kurt,” Neville said in a nervous shaky voice as he tried to pull Kurt away.

Kurt looked deep into Draco’s eyes and leaned in close so his voice was barely above a whisper, “Jesus just saved your life.” He then walked away silently.

“My name’s Neville, not Jesus.” Kurt was surprised by the statement having never considered that religion and magic were mutually exclusive.

“It’s a muggle saying,” he said with a soft smile as they braved on with their fruitless search for Trevor, “Now let’s find Trevor.”

~0~

Kurt stood awkwardly next to Neville in the entrance hall of the majestic castle; he was in awe of the beautiful architecture and the out of this world paintings that covered almost every inch of wall in the great monstrosity of a room. In that moment Kurt suddenly knew how magic could have coexisted with the muggle world for so long without being discovered; magic was simply beyond even the wildest of imaginations, too absurd and obscure to coexist with science and technology.

The energy in the room was electric and there was a hum of excitement; Kurt had gathered that for those students who came from all wizarding families this was a defining moment, they would be sorted into their houses and gathering how nervous Neville seemed to be, it must mean quite a bit. Professor McGonagall had greeted and welcomed them to Hogwarts, she had given them a brief introduction to the four houses and their role in the day to day running of the school- Kurt had been put at ease by the sight of her, adding a sense of familiarity to an otherwise foreign experience.

“So it’s true what they were saying on the train,” Draco said commanding the attention of everyone in the room, “Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts.”

“Who the hell is Harry Potter?” Kurt asked Neville in a very irritated tone, he had read Hogwarts: A History cover to cover but had not heard of Harry Potter referred to personally or as part of a dynasty.

“Harry Potter is the boy who lived.”

“What’d he live through?” Finn asked what might be the only intelligent question he would ever ask.

“He survived an encounter with a killing curse from one of the darkest wizards of all time and ended the first wizarding war,” Hermione said from behind him.

“How do you know that?” Kurt asked her curiously, “You were raised in muggle society like the two of us.”

“I read it in Great Wizarding Events of the Twenty First Century.”

“Oh my gosh!” Kurt said in angry voice, “I asked Professor McGonagall to recommend any and all books that could help me integrate into the wizarding society and that’s the book she chooses to omit?”

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, “Follow me into the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your houses.” Kurt was carried along with the crowd; the Great Hall was more beautiful than any assortment of words could ever describe it to be. He had read of the enchanted ceiling and the floating candles but they were much more intimidating and far more beautiful in reality than in what he had read in Hogwarts: A History which now seemed like a distant fallacy. They stood in the centre aisle between four tables that stretched the length of the room, before them stood a perpendicular table that seated a wide array of elder wizard dressed in a more academic and formal manner. Professor McGonagall stood in front of a brass podium with an intricately precise carving of an owl with its wings closed; the owl’s eyes seemed to be penetrating his soul, which left him feeling vulnerable.

An elderly man with a long flowing white beard and the long straw hair to match dressed in flamboyantly patterned robes who introduced himself as Professor Dumbledore came forward to stand at the podium; the owl opened its wings which showed greater detail on the inner wing and made it even more fearsome and penetrative. He urged the student body to stay out of the Dark Forest as it was prohibited but that sort of made sense because danger posed by wild animals; magical and non-magical. Next he told them that third floor corridor on the right side was out of bounds to ‘all those who do not wish to die a most horrific death’, this made Kurt wonder what kind of school would have anything that is remotely dangerous around irresponsible teenagers.

“You will be called one by one, I will place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting hat’s decision will be final.” She then called name after name, until finally a name he recognised, “Hermione Granger,” Kurt watched as his new acquaintance climbed and took the seat in front of the podium, a worn shabby leather hat was placed on her mane of bushy brown hair. The sorting hat then went silent for quite a while as though in distant and profound contemplation, engaging in a mental conversation with Hermione until after five or so minutes the hat announced, “Gryffindor!”

She happily skipped over to that house’s table as the next group of strangers were called out. “Finn Hudson,” Kurt’s heart nearly stopped, he was nervous on Finn’s behalf as his oversized brother ascended to be sorted.

Don’t be afraid. He heard Finn’s voice say in his head, he straightened up and watched as his brother swayed from side to side, swinging his legs to the sounds of Africa by Toto that seemed to be booming in his head. The sorting hat seemed confused by his behaviour, taking a moment to recompose itself before booming “Hufflepuff!”

“Kurt Hummel.”

Kurt had been preparing himself for this as he knew he followed Finn alphabetically but as he climbed the short flight of stairs and turn to see a sea of face looking at him expectantly. He missed the seat and fell to the ground with a bit of a thud, his pale alabaster tinged red as he picked himself up and sat on the chair, unable to meet the laughing faces.  
‘In all my time at Hogwarts, this is the first time I’m seeing that happen’ Kurt heard the gruff unfamiliar voice of the sorting hat say in his head, ‘that is the first in a series of firsts you will bring to Hogwarts and the wizarding but how do I best get you there?’

‘Put me with Finn,’ Kurt thought to himself, ‘I won’t survive on my own.’

‘You want to be in Hufflepuff with your brother?’ the hat seemed to laugh at him, ‘You don’t have what it takes to be a Hufflepuff! You do have the intelligence of a Ravenclaw or even the courageous tenacity of a proper Gryffindor, but which of the two best suits you? There is something familiar about you Kurt Elizabeth Hummel?’

Kurt was unsure how to respond to the statement, ‘what do you mean?’

‘Other than the way you look,’ the hat was silent for a moment, ‘there is a certain air about you and suddenly I know just where you belong.’

“Slytherin!” the hat boomed with slight pride in his decision, “Trust me Mr Hummel, you’ll be great in Slytherin.”

Kurt was dazed for the rest of the sorting ceremony; he was seated next to one of oafs from the train, Goyle as he’d far from eloquently introduced himself; Kurt wondered what the sorting hat had seen in his mind that had changed his course so abruptly. He was now seated opposite that obnoxious brat from the train, he wished he was in Hufflepuff with Finn or in Gryffindor with Hermione and Neville but alas, he would have to do his best with what he was presented.

“So, are you a pureblood?” Malfoy asked; Kurt was silent as he wasn’t sure who the question was directed at, “I’m talking to you Hummel!”

“Oh, I guess so.” Kurt said with a shrug, “This house is known to be more selective when it comes to blood status and here I am.”

“How are you unsure?” Goyle asked looking really confused as he tore into his food with his hands in a manner that made Kurt feel uncomfortable.

“I’m adopted,” Kurt was met by three blank stares, “I was raised by other people who aren’t my biological parents.”

“That’s strange,” Malfoy said with a look of slight disgust on his face. Kurt so dearly missed his father and his home life that he wasn’t up to challenging wits with the blond miscreant; he simply nodded his head as he picked at the unsavoury food in front of him. Kurt and the two louts were startled by the pale figure that was seated beside Malfoy; the figure wore a powdered wig and had a skeletal appearance, his robes seemed to be stained by some silver liquid.

“Welcome to Slytherin house,” his voice was bristly and barely above a whisper. Malfoy had screamed off at the sight of the ghost, “I hope not all of you first years are as hopeless as this one, we’ve got a winning streak to up hold.”

“Charmed to make your acquaintance,” Kurt said tilting his head and smiling, trying hard not to extend his hand to the ghost who would be unable to shake it, “Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, and you are?”

“The Bloody Baron, Slytherin House Ghost.” He said with an air of superiority that Kurt didn’t appreciate.

Kurt felt so out of place sitting amongst these kids who seemed to be discussing magical life as though it were an everyday thing and even though it was to them, they were successfully excluding him without even trying. He got up and walked around the table over to where Finn was sitting, “Hi, Could you please move up.” He said to the girl who was sitting next to Finn, she complied and he joined his brother.

“What sup?” Finn said allowing a rogue piece of chicken to fall onto his lap; he picked it up and put it back in his mouth, “You missing BurtyBear?”

“Yes… No.” Kurt let out a heavy sigh, “I just spent the entirety of the last month reading the books recommended by Professor McGonagall, only to find that it doesn’t even scratch the surface of what the wizarding world is about or even the politics that drives, you can imagine how disgruntled I am at that.”

“Nope.”

“I was the first kid to learn to write their name in preschool,” Kurt stopped to reposition a stray hair, “I’ve always been wildly competitive and now everyone has an advantage over me; I need to level the playing field and I have no idea how I am supposed to be going about that… my life is ruined.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Finn said with an encouraging smile, he laid Kurt’s head on his should, “it’ll get better.”

“How are you? How’s Hufflepuff?” Kurt said checking his appearance in his compact, wiping away any sign that he’d been upset.

“I’m good, this house is pretty cool,” he said still stuffing his face, “everyone here is so nice.”

“At least, everyone in my house seems to be a snob obsessed with pedigree,” Kurt let out huff, “And I want to ring Draco Malfoy’s little neck and I’ve only known him a couple of hours.”

Finn laid a supportive hand on his shoulder and gave him a toothy grin, “You go do what you must and I’ll be your alibi.”

“You’ve got spinach stuck between your teeth,” he said beaming a thousand watt smile, “Also you are the best brother ever but I doubt you should be encouraging my murderous thoughts.”

“I just feel like this is something we could get away with,” Finn said with a smirk, “Like how we got away with taking the entire jar of cookies with us to boarding school.”

“We’ve never be-” Kurt was astonished and pleasantly surprised by his brothers mischievous actions and the precision with which he had executed his plan, Kurt was upset that he had been excluded because Finn knew very well that Kurt had an aptitude for successfully breaking the rules, “You did evil without me! How dare you? And you call yourself my brother.”

“But-”

“Let it scab!” Kurt exclaimed as he stormed off to re-join his house, who were leading out of the great hall. He followed the house prefect through a network of changing staircases and a maze of corridors till they came to a bricked up door way flanked by a bookcase on either side. Gemma, The house prefect, stepped forward and said the password which was ‘Password’.

As the first years assembled in the bowels of Hogwarts; he looked about the room with soft green lighting and bulky dark statement pieces in abundance, he let his mind wander into the adventurous worlds depicted in the tapestry that hung all about but suddenly he was drawn back to reality by the marvellous sight of a giant squid swimming by the window in all it’s marvellous glory. Gemma was explaining the lay of the land and how things generally work; she then started allocating rooms at random, she divided the room into boys and girls and then started counting off groups of four, and much to his displeasure Kurt ended up being grouped with Dumb, Dumber and Asshole.

Kurt arrived to find that his luggage had arrived safely, the staff clearly had an appreciation for Louis Vuitton; he promptly started unpacking his stuff when he saw a shadow appear over him, “Can I help you?” he couldn’t get the sass out of his voice but he at least forced a tolerant facial expression.

“I’m confused,” Goyle said in a low raspy voice, looking from Kurt to his Luggage, “If your name is Hummel then why does your luggage say ‘LV’?”

“Firstly; don’t call me Hummel, that is my last name, my given name is Kurt.” He said with a condescending smile that was clearly lost on the best of the trio, continued to say: “Secondly; ‘LV’ is a famous design house, don’t you have fashion in the wizarding world?”

“What do they design?” Crabbe asked in a soft voice that was an outright juxtaposition to his gorilla like appearance.

“Obviously luggage,” Draco screamed at him which seemed to immediately subdue the larger boy, “Idiot.”

“Okay…” Kurt thought to himself that he hadn’t gotten on a first name basis with Dumb and Dumber but carried on with his train of thought, “If any of you touch my stuff there will be hell to pay.” His voice was stern but soon turned as close to soft as your voice got when you were Kurt Hummel, “By the way; I’m first name person and I didn’t get your names.”

“Vincent.”

“Gregory.”

“Now once more with greater impact,” He paused for dramatic effect, “Draco, Vincent and Gregory,” he gestured to his stuff, “No touchy!”

“What will someone with blood that isn’t true do?” Draco snickered with knowing sneered, “You might as well be a mudblood.”

“I don’t know what that means exactly,” Kurt stood tall, short for his age but metaphorically tall, “But if I find out that it is bad then I promise you that my magical abilities will be least of your worries.”

Kurt then let his words linger as his stare burned holes through Draco’s bulbous head, he then turned and headed for the bathroom.

Hogwarts seemed to have a medieval vibe going on but Kurt was quite please to find that they hadn’t failed to adapt to modern indoor plumbing and excellent water pressure. Kurt began his evening cleanse, as he had done since he decided to pre-empt puberty. As he exfoliated in small circles he saw Gregory approaching him, he didn’t want to respond in an adverse manner without reason but kept his guard up.

“Whatcha Doing?” he said leaning against the sink adjacent to Kurt’s.

“Exfoliating.” Kurt went about his business hoping that their conversation wouldn’t need to escalate any further but he could feel the blank stare on him, “it’s when you scrub the dead follicles of skin off.”

“That sounds gross,” he said with a giggle and goofy grin, “But so cool.”

“Yeah,” Kurt supposed with an awkward laugh.

“Okay, the thing with Draco is that he wants to feel like he’s the smartest and biggest person in a room,” Kurt was caught off guard by Gregory’s metamorphosis into an intellectually sound member of society, “just don’t pay him any mind because he will try to bait you and get you to challenge him. I get the feeling that you wouldn’t successfully execute the dull oaf method.”

Kurt was at a loss of words, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” he smiled and left.

Kurt was soon left to his own devices once more; he refused to actually acknowledge what had just happened so instead he thought about the day ahead, his mind a buzz with questions. What would his first day of classes be like? He was going to be doing eight new subjects, would he be able to keep up? All these questions brought a certain feeling of self-doubt to the surface; he turned on his heels and went off to reread his text books because something told him he wouldn’t be getting much sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt adjusted his brooch and clasped his Marc Jacobs messenger bag closer to his side as he and Hermione walked from their first class of the year. Charms had proven to be quite to Kurt’s liking; he was able to easily pick up their incantations and remember what each did due to his photographic memory, Professor Flitwick had commented on his natural aptitude but Kurt thought he was just being courteous. Despite their obviously conflicting views on the importance of the preservation of one’s appearance; Kurt found that Hermione and he were very similar in their pursuit of knowledge and excellence. They found seats in the dungeon class room, near the front beside Neville.

“Kurt, this is Harry and his friend Ron.” Hermione said with gesturing to the two boys sitting at the end of the desk, “Harry, Ron, this is Kurt.”

“Hi,” he smiled at each of them, “Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure,” Harry replied.

They were engaged in light conversation, trying to get a feel of what to expect from the lesson. Kurt knew that the potions master was his head of house but that didn’t mean he expected any preferential treatment, if anything he knew the teacher would expect more of him. He fiddled with Finn’s hair while they waited for the lesson to begin.

“Why are you sitting in front row?” he questioned the bigger boy as he jerked him back and forth by his ears.

“This was the only seat left when I got here.” He spoke in a booming voice, Kurt shot him a disapproving look and he instantly lowered his voice, “Did you sleep okay?”

“You know me, I was so excited about the new school year that I stayed up all night pre-reading the prescribed text.” He said as he kneaded his brother’s face, “How are you? Were the other Hufflepuff students nice to you?”

“Yeah,” Finn’s face lit up, “there’s this third year who said I have the perfect build to be a beater and he would help me make the team next year.”

“Sexy.”

“Who is that Hummel,” Draco said with a smug smirk from behind him, “your boyfriend?” There was a roar of laughter around the classroom; Finn had turned red from anger. Kurt calmed him with a single touch and looked straight at Draco; this caused silence to sweep across the classroom.

“Why?” Kurt said with a purse of his lips, “Are you jealous?” This time even Hermione joined in on the laughter.

Professor Snape entered and put an immediate halt to the laughter. He began an obviously rehearsed monologue on the superiority of potions as a subject and how that would mean that most of us would not appreciate its fine art. Kurt was simply taken aback by the man’s obvious misuse of hair product; the man’s hair was greasy and hung like death on either side of his thin face, the man needed to invest in some volumising shampoo or from the look of things, any kind of shampoo.

He suddenly stopped his speech and looked at their row of desks, “Some of you may have come to Hogwarts in possession of skills so formidable that you don’t find it necessary to pay attention.” Hermione nudged Harry to stop writing as the potions master stepped closer and crossed his arms over his thin frame, flipping his onyx hair to the side. He stood in front of Harry, “Mr Potter, our new celebrity.” There were murmurs about the classroom but Professor Snape soon commanded silence with a single look, “Tell me, what would you get if you added powdered root of asphodel to an Infusion of Wormwood?”

Due to his eidetic memory Kurt knew the answer to this question, a draught of living death, but he didn’t dare answer the question. Hermione, on the other hand, had shot her hand up as soon as the answer came to her. He gently pulled her hand down and explained that this was Professor Snape making an example of Harry because he hadn’t been listening.

“I don’t know sir,” Harry’s voice was soft and submissive.

“You don’t know? Let’s try again,” the potions master’s tone was patronising but Kurt didn’t dare question his authority in front of the other students, “Where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?”

In the stomach of a goat, Kurt thought to himself as Harry admitted that he didn’t know. Professor Snape continued to fire question after question at Harry and he didn’t know any of the answers until finally he burst out and demanded that the professor stop picking on him and instead allow people who want to answer questions to answer them. The class was instructed to open their textbooks to Cure for Boils; Kurt read the spell over twice before dividing and preparing his ingredients perfectly. By the time he was adding his horned slugs, Finn had become the first in their class to successfully brew a perfect cure for boils.

“But how?” he demanded of his brother, “What did you differently from me?”

“Well, you read the recipe twice and double checked all your measurements,” Kurt nodded, “I just dove straight in and winged my way through it.”

“Ten points to Hufflepuff.” Professor Snape said after inspecting the potion closely, “Class dismissed, but only after you finish a respectable brew.”

Neville’s cauldron melted and spilled a putrid smelling liquid all over Kurt’s robes; in that moment Kurt had decided that he didn’t like Potions but made it his mission to excel in the class in spite of it.

“Professor Snape,” he approached the man cautiously, “might I have a word?”

“Yes…” the man paused and raised a brow.

“Kurt Hummel.” He cleared his throat, “I feel like I don’t really have an aptitude for this subject but I’d like to make strides, do have any recommendations?”

“Stay away from Longbottom,” he said without looking up from his work.

“I mean,” Kurt snapped his fingers to draw the teacher’s attention to him, “I know all the theory but I want to look into improve my practical application.”

“You snap your fingers at me ever again and you’ll be taken to the hospital wing in a liquidated form. Detention!” the man said, irritation obvious in his tone, “Now, if you keep applying yourself in the same fashion you did today you’ll do just fine.” The man stared at him intently.

“Thank you.”

“Where are you from Mr Hummel?” the Professor looked him in the eye.

“I’m from London,” Kurt was confused by the line of questioning but none the less answered truthfully.

“And your parents?” he asked politely, “What do they do?”

“My mother was an investment banker, my dad restores classic cars and Carole is a nurse.” Kurt smiled, “Do you mind me asking why you're asking all these questions?”

“Well, as your head of house I have an obligation to find out more about my students,” he turned away from him, “I was also under the impression that I might know your parents; you look quite like someone I once knew but they were a wizard and you're muggle-born.”

“Oh okay,” Kurt was about to turned and leave but stopped in his tracks, his curiosity peaked, “I’m actually adopted so there is a possibility I’m not muggle-born.”

“Interesting,” he said without even looking at him.

“Yeah but I doubt that,” Kurt said with an odd bounce in his voice, “My theory is that one of those teenagers on Grimmauld Place got knocked up and decided to leave the baby with someone who doesn’t know them.”

“Grimmauld Place?”

“Yeah, I live at number thirteen Grimmauld Place.”

“I have a… friend at number twelve.”

“There is no number twelve, it was a numbering error.”

“Oh, okay.”

Kurt said a quick goodbye before moving along.

~0~

After the first few days at Hogwarts Kurt admitted to himself that he was settling in rather well, he had taken to most of his classes easily; enjoying Charms and Transfiguration most but not being particularly fond of Herbology due to the dirty nature of the subject. He had written a detailed letter to his father, in which he had off loaded about everything; the group of new friends he had made, his strange pseudo-mentorship detention with Professor Snape, he made note to mention that he had been feeling slightly under the weather but didn’t want to worry either his father or Carole so chose to keep details on that to a minimum.

Kurt had stopped by the owlery to send his letter before rushing off to the training grounds for his first flying lesson. He got to the green to find everyone huddled together, he saw Madam Hooch carrying someone off- he must have been really late if someone had already hurt themselves.

“Where were you?” Hermione asked as he joined the general masses.

“I had to send a letter, so I went to the owlery. “What happened here?”

“Neville lost control of his broom and broke his wrist.”

“Neville’s hurt?” Kurt exclaimed, “Where is he?”

“Madam Hooch took him to the hospital wing,” Hermione said in a reassuring voice, “he’ll be fine.”

“What’s the matter Potter?” Draco said from the air, “Bit beyond your reach?”

“No way Harry,” Hermione warned, “you heard what Madam Hooch said besides you don’t even know how to fly.”

“I’m with Hermione,” Kurt added, “You could hurt yourself or worse, get expelled.” But Harry flew off in pursuit of Draco anyway.

“What an idiot!” Hermione said with disgust in her voice. Kurt watched their little game of cat and mouse with equal distaste, “One of them is bound to get hurt.”

“And I can’t wait to laugh at that fool,” Kurt quipped. Kurt saw Draco fling the rememberal at the wall; he whipped his wand out of his cloak to perform the arresto momentum charm to slow it down before it hit the wall, allowing Harry catch the rememberal.

“Where’d you learn that spell?” Hermione asked with a displeased look on her face, “I know for sure it isn’t in the first year Standard Book of Spells.”

“I picked it up when I was writing lines for Professor Snape in detention,” he thought about it as they followed their class mates to the congregation around the now hailed idiotic hero; he realised that he hadn’t meant to learn that spell but he guessed it had stuck. “God I was hoping one of you would fall!”

“Potter,” Professor McGonagall stood there with a very displeased look on her face, “Come with me.”

“But Professor-” Kurt began.

“No, Mr Hummel,” she said dismissively, leading Harry away.

“Well, you gave it a try.” Hermione said with a dismissive shrug, “Now tell me, what other spells have you picked up?”

“Let’s check on Neville and I’ll tell you all about detention on the way there.”

“Sure,” they linked arms and walked off into the castle, “Now, why do you always have detention?”

“It’s because I never sit with my house in the Great Hall,” Kurt adjusted an imaginary stray hair, “but I told Professor Snape that I would rather serve detention everyday than sit with those vapid two-dimensional miscreants. Honestly, Gregory is the deepest of them all and he isn’t that bright.”

“You poor thing,” she said in a soothing voice, “that stupid hat totally got you wrong.”

“I know but what can I do?” Kurt shrugged nonchalantly, “Now, about detention. I generally sit there for an hour copying notes over and over, I have done the Standard Book of Spells grade one and two at least five times a piece.”

“And that’s how you picked that spell up?” she asked hanging onto his arm, “because you have to teach it to me, like for real!”

“I will. Good day Madam Pomphry,” Kurt smiled his standard five thousand watt smile, “Is Neville Longbottom still here?”

“Good day, good day.” She said in a pleasantly sing song voice, “Yes, Longbottom’s over in bed three.”

They whispered a quick thanks as they moved over to their injured friend, he was sitting up at the edge of the bed swinging his feet back and forth in a bored fashion while he hummed Bach softly.

“Neville,” Kurt exclaimed in a sharp voice, “How are you?”

“Grandma?” Neville turned slowly to see a mortified Kurt.

“Grandma? Really?” Kurt appeared to be peeved by the question.

“You sounded just like her for a moment,” Neville said shyly turning red, “And you kind of smell like her, like spring.”

“Are you alright Neville?” Hermione questioned with an evident concern in her tone, “That was quite the fall, are you concussed?”

“No,” he smiled at them and Kurt couldn’t help smiling back at the purity of innocence, “I’m good, I just don’t want to go back to be laughed at by everyone.”

“They won’t laugh at you,” Neville shot Hermione with a bitch face that made Kurt feel proud, “Okay, they will laugh.”

“But you’ll have our support,” Kurt said sitting down next to his close friend, “When they laugh, I’ll curse all of them with warts.”

“Kurt’ll do it,” Hermione said with a smile, “He already has detention every day, so really he has nothing to lose.”

“Not every day,” Kurt blushed slightly, “Now tell us, how did you end up like this?”

“I kicked off too early,” Neville shrank into himself, “And then I lost control.”

“Why?” Kurt forced Neville’s gaze to meet theirs.

“I didn’t want to be left behind again.”

“Guys!” Ron stormed into the sanatorium, “Did you hear? Harry’s the new Gryffindor seeker!”

“Ronald,” Kurt sneered, “Always the example of sensitivity.”

“Firstly, we’re in the middle of something,” Hermione scolded him, “and secondly, not a shred of concern for Neville’s wellbeing! He could have haemorrhaged and died!”

“What?” Neville looked panicked.

“She’s extending the truth to prove a point,” Kurt whispered in his ear to reassure him.

“Sorry,” Ron mumbled in defeat, “How are you Neville?”

“Fine, thank you.”

“Now do you want to hear about Harry becoming Gryffindor seeker?” Ron asked enthusiastically.

“We’ll humour you,” Hermione said with a twisted smile that made Kurt question his level of influence on her.

“So, old McGonagall came down to take him away and we all thought he was in trouble for sure,” he was smiling to himself, “but she was taking to meet Oliver Wood and she had him added as the Gryffindor seeker and it is all thanks to you Neville.”

“Neville,” Harry announced as he arrived, “How are you?”

“I’ve been better.”

“Here’s your rememberal,” Harry tossed it to Neville who failed to catch it; its descent was intercepted by Hermione before it could hit the floor using the spell she just learned, “Brilliant Hermione!”

“I’ll say!” Neville said in awe.

“How does it feel Harry?” Ron asked curiously, “being the youngest seeker in…”

“A century, according to McGonagall,” Harry said with a shit eating grin, “It feels the same but weird; like what if I mess up?”

“Then we’ll pour lighter fluid all over you and set you alight.” Kurt said coldly, everyone turned to look at him in horror, “It’s sarcasm. It’s just a sport Harry, no one cares.”

“What do you mean it’s just a sport?” Ron exclaimed, “You know what, let’s just go eat before I murder someone.”

“Let’s stay, because I would love to see who gets murdered.” Kurt got all up in Ron’s grill.

“Come on boys,” Hermione said as she pulled them apart, “behave.”

“Jesus just saved your life.” Kurt said in a hoarse voice as Hermione led him out of the infirmary. They all went off to the great hall for dinner.

“Mr Hummel,” Professor Snape said as he passed them near entrance as they were making their way to their seats, “let’s save each other a lot of trouble, are you planning on sitting with a different house from your own tonight?”

“Probably.” Kurt pursed his lips inn defiance, “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Then I’ll see you in detention,” he sneered at the rest of the group before making his way to the head table.

“Can he do that?” Harry asked in a huff of anger.

“Kurt enjoys detention,” Hermione intervened, “that’s where he learns spells like the one that’s saved Neville’s rememberal twice.”

“And it gives me something to do instead of bonding with Dumb, Dumber and Obnoxious,” Kurt cringed, “Speak of the antichrist.”

“Potter, how’d it go with McGonagall?” Draco was smug and arrogant as he slurred out of a sideways smirk; Vincent and Gregory laughed on cue as they always did.

“Well, actually-” Hermione began only to be stopped in her tracks.

“Not as badly as you’d think considering I’m still here,” Harry’s face withheld any sign of what he was thinking, everyone looked confused but Kurt merely pursed his lips quizzically.

“Old McGonagall must be losing her touch,” Draco spat at the bespectacled boy, “or she’s playing favourites; someone’s got to teach you a lesson.”

“And who might that be?” Ron quipped; he clearly neither understand how these verbal standoffs worked nor did he know his role as a yes-man in a bitch off, “You?”

“Yes,” Draco stepped even closer to Harry, if that is possible, and got all up in his grill; “I challenge you to a little duel; after lights out in the trophy room.”

“Harry that’s against like… a hundred different school rules,” Hermione interjected but Harry continued his stare off with Draco, “And you're not listening to me.”

“I’ll be there,” Harry said softly, “Bring your A-game.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there!” Ron said punching the air.

“No one invited you Weasley!” Draco exclaimed before storming off.

“So you're just going ignore everything that Hermione just said and the obvious danger to go through with this anyway?” Kurt asked calmly.

“What do you think?” Ron enquired, “He wasn’t going to take that from some Slytherin scum.”

“Careful,” Kurt warned, “I’m one of those supposed ‘Slytherin Scum’ and I am quite well versed in the use of my wand unlike you who can’t even turn a rat yellow.”

“You told them?”

“It was funny!”

“I think you might actually be more hopeless than I am.” Neville chuckled to himself.

“Let’s put it to a vote then,” Ron finally screamed with his hands raised in defeat.

“No,” Harry stopped everyone, “I’m doing this.”

“What an idiot!” Kurt and Hermione said simultaneously.

~0~

Kurt stood in the trophy room waiting for everyone to arrive, he didn’t even actually know why he was here; was it to see his first magical duel and learn from a practical situation or was it his insatiable desire to ridicule the loser that had brought him here. He saw Hermione, Neville, Ron and Harry coming down the corridor to relieve his boredom; he had read every trophy in the room at least twice in a poor effort to pass the time.

“Well,” Ron said looking rather pleased with himself, “it seems both naysayers have decided to join us tonight.”

“‘It seems…’ shut up!” Kurt said in a rather dismissive tone, “I’m here for educational reasons.”

“Wow Kurt,” Harry said with a chuckle, “only you could make breaking the rules and having a magical duel sound boring.”

Kurt laughed falsely, “Oh, aren’t we sassy tonight.”

“Quiet,” Neville said suddenly, “Someone’s coming.”

They all hid in plain sight in anticipation for whoever might be approaching. It was Mrs Norris, which mean Filch wasn’t far behind.

“Why do I get the feeling that this was a set-up?” Hermione asked as they ran down the corridor.

“This is not the time to be smug,” Ron exclaimed.

Neville stopped suddenly, “We’re not supposed to be here.”

“Yeah,” Kurt said pulling him along, “We’re supposed to be in bed.”

“No,” He shrugged out of Kurt’s grip, “This is the third floor corridor on the left side.”

“So?” Ron said impatiently.

“Professor Dumbledore said that it was out of bounds to all those who don’t want to die. He actually said die!”

“Come on,” Hermione said sternly, “I’d rather die than be expelled!”

They ran till they reached the end of the dim corridor. They had come to a dead end with nothing but an old locked door.

“Shit!” Ron exclaimed.

“Step aside!” Hermione approached the door, “Alohomora.”

The door was unlocked and they all pushed to get in first. Kurt never seemed to stop being amazed by Hermione’s superior use of knowledge they both possessed, she thought on her feet and that worked out well in sticky situations.

“Alohomora?” Ron questioned.

“Standard Book of Spells, chapter seven.” He and Hermione said at the same time.

“You guys have got to stop doing that!” Harry said finally.

“Good thing this door was locked.” Neville said with a smile, “I did not want to go to detention.”

“I know can you imagine what kind of scum they have in detention?” Ron said in a loud voice.

“Hey!” Kurt said loudly in a high pitched voice, “I always have detention.”

“Exactly,” Ron said, “Like most Slytherin students, you are there discussing evil.”

“With Fred and George!” He quipped at the ginger boy.

“Guys.” Harry said softly.

“I don’t even know why you're here.”

“Guys.” He repeated once more with more body in his voice.

“I don’t know why they haven’t sent you home for incompetence.”

“Guys!” Harry spoke firmly yet softly, “There’s a reason this door was locked.”

They all turned to see a giant three headed dog waking from a light slumber; none of them moved a muscle. The dog started snarling; they all started screaming and climbing over each other to get out of the door first, all except for Neville who seemed to have accepted his ultimate demise and was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. As the dog drew near to one of his only friends, Kurt panicked but he couldn’t think of any way to save Neville.

“Reducio!” he screamed as the dog slobbered over Neville, suddenly the dog began to shrink till it was no bigger than a stick of butter. “Neville, let’s go! Don’t ever just give up like that!”

He led him out into the maze of stairs, “Sorry Granma.” He said wiping his eyes.

“I’m not your Granma!” Kurt said loudly, he calmed down slightly and in a soothing voice continued; “just go to sleep Neville.”

~0~

As Kurt was packing up after Defence Against the Dark Arts Neville came and stood in front of him awkwardly; Kurt waited for the boy to say something but he remained completely silent, shuffling from heel to toe.

“Neville,” Kurt said cautiously.

“Hi Kurt,” he said in cheery voice.

“How are you?” Kurt was confused by the boy’s odd behaviour, “Are you alright?”

“I’m well, thank you.” He gave Kurt an unsettling smile, “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” Kurt stopped by the door, “I have detention, so later.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“Okay,” Kurt smiled slightly, “How are you feeling after our adventure last night?”

“Better,” he blushed slightly, “Sorry for calling you Granma again.”

“It’s okay,” Kurt put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “now, I don’t mean to be rude but this is sort of my stop, how can I help you?”

“Nothing,” Neville smiled sweetly, “I knew that you were going to be walking alone so I thought I would do something nice.”

“Aww, isn’t that just the sweetest.”

“See you later.”

Kurt waved off his friend before knocking on the potions master’s office door.

“Don’t bother coming in,” the man looked rather displeased, “it’s seems your constant infractions have caught the attention of the headmaster.”

“What?”

“Follow me,” the older man took off in a brisk walk, Kurt struggled to keep up.

“Where are we going?” Professor Snape stopped suddenly; Kurt wasn’t expecting their sudden halt thus resulting in a messy collision.

“Was I unclear or are you hard of hearing?” Professor Snape towered over Kurt, “I said that we were going to the headmaster.”

“You were unclear.”

“I beg your pardon?” the man growled, revealing his discoloured teeth, “Liquorice Snaps.”

Kurt was confused by the statement, “Professor, are you feeling quite alright?”

“Just go Hummel!” he flipped his hair out of his face, “Before I do something I’ll regret.”

Kurt climbed the spiral staircase; he was nervous, he had come to revere the legend of Professor Dumbledore during his short stay at Hogwarts. It seemed everyone had a story to tell about the man’s great history and the legend of his lifetime; it intimidated Kurt. How had he rose to such an admired stature of fame that it made Kurt wonder why he would choose to squander it in this office; he didn’t even get the gratitude of moulding young minds, he just did the administrative work. Kurt gently knocked on the door; it opened and allowed him to enter.

“Please, come in Mr Hummel,” the elder man stood before him in elegant, floor length, vivid tangerine robes and a matching fez with gold tassels.

Kurt puckered up all his courage and put on his brave face. He took in the majesty of the circular room, he was enamoured by the way the light that was let in by the large stained glass bay windows danced on the portraits; projecting all the hues under the sun onto the book shelves that covered a large quantity of the room. He walked by a beautiful peacock like red bird sitting proudly on a perch; Kurt stopped to admire its whimsical crimson and gold feathers, he was in awe of their eccentricity and the way they reflected the light like they were made of rubies and rose gold.

“Good Afternoon Professor Dumbledore,” Kurt said in a soothing and controlled voice, “I’m Kurt Elizabeth Hummel and I wish we were meeting under different circumstances.”

“Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore,” the man smiled, “liquorice snap?”

“No, thank you.” Kurt smiled back at the man in effort to unsettle him, “Jenny Craig, I couldn’t possibly.”

Dumbledore raised an inquisitive brow and Kurt knew he had him hook, line and sinker. “Tell me Kurt- May I call you Kurt?”

“I would prefer it.”

“Tell me Kurt, how is that in the short time that you’ve been at Hogwarts you have managed to get more detentions than any single first year in the history of Hogwarts?”

“Well,” Kurt smiled to himself; he spoke with confidence and spontaneity, “I’m really struggling to find my place amongst my fellow Slytherin house students as many of them are half or purebloods and tend to band together in their knowledge of the magical world.” He stopped to adjust his hair, “As a result of my feelings of exclusion I tend to sit with my friends from the other houses at meal times, an instant detention.”

“Ah, yes.” Dumbledore said in an understanding voice, “you were raised in the muggle world correct?”

“Yes sir,” Kurt spoke flatly, he didn’t want his emotional manipulation of the older man to be too obvious, “I was adopted by Albert and Christine Hummel, but my father would die if he heard me call him Albert.”

“And you don’t know who your birth parents are?” the man enquired, “I’m curious.”

“No,” Kurt was abrupt as the subject of his biological parents was one that caused him great discomfort, “Nobody seems to know and I’m quite fine keeping it that way.”

“Curious.” The man was silent for a while before he continued, “You appear to be a very well-adjusted young man, with a maturity that is far beyond your years.”

“Thank you.”

“That’s not a complement,” Kurt’s face dropped, “may I speak freely?”

“It is your office.” Kurt could feel the sass returning to his tone.

“You remind me of myself at your age.”

Kurt raised a curious brow, “Isn’t that a bit of a rash statement considering you only just met me?”

“Ha, that is true but word of your scholastic aptitude has travelled,” he smiled, “the only teachers who haven’t sang your praises are Professor Snape- he doesn’t sing anyone’s praises and between you and I, I don’t think he has the voice for it- the other is Professor Sprout.”

“And I told her that Herbology was too outdoorsy for me.”

“The walls have eyes and ears,” his voice had remained unchanged, with minimal modulation, “they say you're well adjusted. I’m going to give you some advice because ‘it is my office’; forget about being well-adjusted, you can be well-adjusted when you’re forty or when you’re a hundred! If you squander your youth you’ll be left with nothing but regrets and an unfulfilled hunger for youth.”

“Thank you for that advise,” Kurt smiled politely, “I’ll be sure to take it under consideration and give it all due attention.”

“Or you could completely disregard it like most people your age would,” Kurt shot the man a confused look, “Stop overthinking life, you're young. You may go.”

Kurt grabbed his shoulder bag and turned a full 360, “does it ever make mistakes? The hat, I mean, does the hat ever put people in the wrong house?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, I don’t really fit in with the other people in my house,” he let out a little laugh but he knew that it didn’t reach his eyes, “I don’t display any of the qualities that Slytherin house is based on.”

“How so?”

“Well, I’m not cunning or shrewd and we just had a meeting about my obsession with most rules. I’m not a pureblood either; I’m just not their usual cup of tea.”

Dumbledore’s face was creased by deep contemplation, “Might I speak frankly?” Kurt egged him on, “You are quite the intellectual and, according the words on the wind, you have proved yourself quite resourceful. As for your ambition it is quite evident in the way in which you carry yourself, you’ve been giving yourself detention so you could copy advanced texts that are harder to come by; if that isn’t self-preservation, I don’t know what is.”

Kurt blushed slightly at the mention of his manipulation of the potions master, “How’d you know? About my detention scheme.”

“I don’t think a student like yourself would have detention as often as you do,” Dumbledore smiled, “If you were a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw; you’d want to spend that time with friends or in the library.”

Kurt turned to leave, “Thank you sir.”

“Oh Mr Hummel,” Kurt stopped just short of the door, “That is a lovely brooch; where did you get it? Is it in celebration of your placement in Slytherin?”

Kurt looked at the emerald encrusted serpent wrapped around an oval cut sapphire, “it’s a family heirloom; it has been passed down from mother to daughter till finally my mother just had me.”

“It is quite lovely,” he came forward to examine it closely, “Quite exquisite indeed.”

“I have a whole collection of about five. My gran used to say that they were bewitched because her gran told her they were stolen for our ancestor by her husband from an evil sorceress.” He laughed to himself, “She wasn’t all there.”

“Evil sorceresses and cursed jewellery,” Professor Dumbledore laughed, “That’s almost as crazy as the existence of a secret magic world.”

Kurt threw his hands up in surrender, “Okay, she might have been telling the truth, anything is possible.”

Kurt left the headmaster’s office feeling more confused than ever about whether or not he was actually in trouble. He waltzed across the courtyard in a confused daze; the headmaster had called him into his office to insult and debase his character, Kurt wasn’t sure he liked this school anymore.

“Kurt!” Kurt started looking around the courtyard to see who was calling his name, “Liz!”

“Finn,” he scowled at the unwelcomed nickname Finn had given him when they met in day care, “I hear you but I don’t see you.”

“I’m right here,” Finn said suddenly standing beside Kurt and startling him. Kurt jumped back and bumped into the young boy flanking his other side, nearly falling over but being caught by the taller boy, “I was practicing using people’s blind spots for quidditch, Cedric is teaching me.”

Kurt looked at the boy who was holding him up, “Nice to meet you Cedric,” Cedric helped Kurt back into an upright position, “Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, I feel like I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Not nearly as much as I’ve heard about Finn’s amazing little brother,” Cedric smiled and it made Kurt’s knees wobble like he was a school girl with a crush, “he tells anyone who will listen that you're the smartest person in the world.”

Kurt blushed; it was one thing to be complemented by Finn but another to hear it coming from someone as handsome as Cedric, “Finn tends to exaggerate,” Kurt couldn’t stop smiling at the older boy, he was kind of smitten, “I’m really just an ordinary student.”

Finn tried to interject, “Kurt?”

‘Shut up Finn!’ he beamed at his brother in an angry tone but his smile did not falter. “Tell me about yourself; where are you from? Who are you wearing? How do you get such tone in your biceps? What are your hobbies?”

They walked off discussing the minor unimportant details of their lives while Finn trailed behind with a scowl on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

“Finnocence!” Kurt smiled at his brother, “I’m going to use Scuttle to send home a letter; I have a long list of demands for the upcoming winter; would you like me to put anything on the list for you?”

“You can’t use Scuttle, I don’t know where he is.” Finn’s forehead was creased in profound contemplation, “I haven’t seen him since yesterday and I’m really worried about him.”

“You lost your owl?” Kurt rubbed circles into his temples, he let out a deep breath, “When exactly was the last time you saw him?”

“Yesterday at lunch time.”

“Have you checked the owlery?” Finn looked confused, “Have you heard of the owlery?”

“I want to say yes…”

“Where was he sleeping all this time?”

“I don’t know, I’m at school when he sleeps,” Finn smiled, “I always assumed he came back from owl parties and slept in his cage, I even fluffed his pillow daily.”

“So, he’s in the owlery.” Kurt was frustrated by the waste of his time, he took his seat: behind Hermione and Ron, between Dean and Neville.

“Attention, today we finish off on the mending charm.” Professor Flitwick spoke firmly, “Wrist movement is key in the perfect execution of all spells; a rigid spiral movement. Annunciate your words; ‘Reparo’.”

The man urged them to practice but Kurt just didn’t have the heart for school today; he was bloated and felt lethargic, the last thing he wanted to do was put on a circus of helping people master remedial magic. He watched as Neville struggled to get it right and knew then that he couldn’t let him suffer any longer.

“Neville, it’s a triangular spiral,” the boy imitated him, “now say it clearly, reh-PAH-roh.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” Neville concentrated on what he was doing which made a small crease appear over his left brow and his mouth to twitch. The boy tried the spell as instructed.

“Look everybody; we have two people who’ve managed to successfully execute the spell,” Professor Flitwick clapped his hands enthusiastically, “Well done to Ms Granger and Mr Hummel, five points each.”

“Actually Professor,” Kurt said disrupting the man, “it was Neville who executed the spell.”

“Oh, apologies and congratulations to Mr Longbottom,” He smiled broadly, “ten points for showing great improvement.”

Neville smiled at Kurt, “thanks for that, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I don’t know,” Kurt shrugged, “I feel like you’re not realising your full potential because you let your insecurities cripple you.”

Neville looked down to his lap, “Sure, you might have bad luck but come on,” Kurt gestured to the way he was dressed, “If I let everyone’s opinions of me get me down, how far do you think I’d get in life?”

“Well,” Neville twiddled his thumbs for a moment, “despite the way you dress, you have so many other great qualities; you're smart and kind and so pretty.”

Kurt smiled uneasily at being called ‘pretty’, “And I own every part of me, from my oddities to my prettiness.” Kurt reached out for the other boy’s hand, he tilted and gave him a comforting smile, “Neville, you need to learn to love every part of you, despite what the world thinks.”

“But I’m not like you.”

“No one is like me!” Kurt screamed causing Neville to recoil in fear as though he’d been bitten, Kurt realised how crazy he sounded.

“What was that Mr Hummel?” Professor Flitwick asked, the concern was evident on his aged face.

“Nothing,” He smiled falsely, “just frustrated by this spell but Neville’s helping me through it.”

Professor Flitwick didn’t buy the poorly thought out lie, “Okay, keep your outbursts to a minimum and come see me after this lesson.”

“Sorry about flipping my top. I just took a while to work through my set of circumstances and they incomparable to anyone else’s because we’re all unique.” Kurt let out nostalgic sigh.

Neville looked confused, “What exactly do I get over my insecurities?”

“Oh yes,” Kurt said as he snapped back to reality, “You need to stand more firmly by yourself.”

“I don’t understand what you mean?”

“Well,” Kurt pursed his lips for a moment, “You need to stop letting people walk all over you and intimidate you; except for me, that is.” Neville was baffled by what Kurt was saying but Kurt refused to let that deter him from what he was saying, “You let other people undermine your magical and scholastic ability. Look at Cedric Diggory, he’s a model of self-confidence; speaks softly, carries a big stick.”

“Speak softly, carry a big stick?” Neville looked even more confused by this point, “Is that some kind of metaphor?”

“It was the way in which former American president Theodore Roosevelt strived to carry himself,” Kurt smiled sweetly at other boy, “You just have to be able to cash the checks your mouth is writing, be morally sound and be just in all you do and say.”

Kurt got up dramatically and strut over to Professor Flitwick’s desk, he was nervous about having upset his biggest fan. He approached the man cautiously, “Professor Flitwick, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, do you know that you are amongst the most promising students in your year group?” Kurt blushed at the professor’s remarks but knew they were not far from the truth.

“Yes professor,” Kurt was very cautious not to seem arrogant in case he was in trouble.

“As such I would like to invite you to form a team of first year students to represent Hogwarts in the B.A.T, are you familiar with the B.A.T?”

“No.”

“The B.A.T is the Basic Academic Tournament,” Professor Flitwick seemed exceptionally pleased with himself as he went on to explain; “They are a tournament hosted at a different school each year, teams of five participate in a series of academic challenges that adapted to challenge them outside the standard school curricular. I know that your house master will tell you more about them but as a world champion duellist, I see a lot of raw talent in you and think you could win gold.”

“Oh professor,” Kurt was shocked; he hadn’t been expecting that, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting but not that, “I don’t think I’m even remotely good enough, Hermione Granger is the brightest witch of our age- maybe you should speak to her.”

“You are a truly gifted young wizard,” Professor Flitwick smiled with the utmost sincerity, “You may be the most naturally gifted student I’ve taught in my tenure at Hogwarts.”

“You are being much too kind.”

“Your modesty is also refreshing,” the man seemed to allow his mind for a moment, “The last student to show half as much promise as you considered herself a god amongst men.”

“Oh,” Kurt blushed guiltily because he knew that he wasn’t as innocent as the man had portrayed to be, “I really believe there must others who would be equally suited and just as deserving of this opportunity.”

“If you mean Miss Granger, I think Professor McGonagall might have already mentioned it to her,” the short man paused, “please give it some thought though.”

“I’ll be sure to do that.” Kurt left the classroom still slightly confused by the Charms Master’s proposition; he didn’t see himself as anything more that an ordinary student with a good memory and knack for hard work, nothing more.

He hurried and caught up with his closest friend in the corridor, “You little whore!” he said with a laugh, “Why didn’t you tell me about your invitation to participate in the B.A.T?”

“The invitation is not to participate, it’s to audition.” Hermione stopped suddenly with a confused look on her face, “How did you know- Shut up! They asked you to audition too?”

“Wait a minute, we have to audition?” Kurt was under the impression that he’d already made the team. “When? How? Why do I get the feeling you know more about this than me?”

“I don’t know that any more than that and I mostly drew conclusions based on what McGonagall told me,”

“So you’re ruffling my feathers based on speculation?” he gave Hermione a disappointed stare and a shake of his head before rushing off to the owlery to post his letter.

“Kurt!” she suddenly shouted down the hallway, “Wait!” Kurt stopped; everyone had turned their attention to the pair of them. The bushy haired girl stopped right in front of him, in wheezy messy pile; she pulled herself together and handed Kurt a small envelope. “Professor Snape said to give this to you; it’s of the utmost importance.”

“Thanks Hermione, nobody like you.” He read the parchment enclosed in the envelope twice over before realizing that it was an invitation rather than a summons to tea with the Head of House, “What time is it?”

“It’s ten past three,” Hermione looked quite confused by the question, “Why?”

“Because I’m late for tea with Professor Snape!” Kurt took off down the hall in a gallant sprint, swiftly evading the students in an effort to get to the dungeon before Professor Snape lost his cool.

“What’s your hurry Kurt?” A voice said with a chuckle.

“Afraid you’ll be late for detention?” a second almost identical voice said.

“Worse,” He said trying to get around the Weasley twins, “I’m late for tea with Professor Snape, can I take a rain check on mindless banter?”

“Banter?” George asked.

“Mindless?” Fred countered.

“And there we were thinking we were friends.” They said in unison, it made Kurt wonder if that’s what he and Hermione sounded like when they spoke.

“Got to go,” Kurt said squeezing between them, “I’ll make it up to you.”

He carried on running till he came to the corridor in front of Professor Snape’s office, he primped and knocked gently on the door.

“Come in,” Professor Snape did not sound pleased in the least bit. Kurt entered the office cautiously, “Mr Hummel, how lovely of you to grace us with your presence. We are not worthy.”

Kurt chose to ignore the malice in the older man’s voice, “Sorry professor,” Kurt swept his eyes across the room, he recognized everyone at once: Draco was sitting smugly next to Gregory, who didn’t look the least bit comfortable, sitting next to the ever aggressive Millicent Bulstrode who was staring dagger into the ever beautiful Daphne Greengrass, who couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze due to crippling shyness. Kurt took his seat between the Millicent and Gregory; Millicent now had to turn her head back and forth in order to alternate between staring at Daphne and Kurt.

Professor Snape stood next to small table in the corner, “How do you like your tea Mr Hummel?”

“Chai,” He paused at the looks he received form his peers, “Black, no sugar with a slice of lemon. Thank you.”

The atmosphere was thick with animosity; he could feel Draco’s eyes on his right side and Millicent’s on his left, “Where’ve you been Hummel?” Draco finally asked breaking the silence, “Where with your boyfriend Potter?”

“No,” Kurt said with an air of indifference, “Was in a meeting with Professor Flitwick.”

“Was it about your incompetence in charms?” Draco remained completely smug.

Kurt smiled shyly whilst the others held their breath, “No, it was about your mom’s back hair, we’re working on a cure.”

The room was filled with laughter, “Do you know why I called you here?” Professor Snape asked cutting through the laughter.

“We’re in trouble.” Gregory said first.

“No,” the man stood over them, “You’re actually here because you each display great potential in a respective subject and as such have been selected to represent Slytherin in the try-outs for the Hogwarts B.A.T team in a week. Make no mistake, Slytherin usually makes up the majority of the team and I expect nothing less of you five.”

“B.A.T?” Millicent demanded.

This prompted Professor Snape to run through the general information on the tournament, “The tournament is primarily a quiz on magical knowledge assessing spell, potion and herb use. Two of the members on the team will participate in a duelling tournament.”

Kurt cleared his throat of the bitter tea- so not chai- when Draco got in ahead of him, “And I’ll be our duelling champion.”

“No,” Professor Snape snapped, “Mr Hummel will be the duellist and for the try-outs he will captain this team.”

“Me?” Kurt said choking on droplets of tea that had gone down the wrong pipe, he was patted gently yet firmly by Gregory until he had fully recovered; Kurt smiled a quick thank you before continuing, “I’m not sure I’m fit to lead.”

“He isn’t!” Draco whined, “What does this mudblood know about anything?”

“That language is unacceptable,” Professor Snape said firmly, “Detention. Kurt Hummel is the top first student in your house and as such possesses the required knowledge to guide all of you. Kurt is also a reader which means he will be able to refer you to texts that can help you.”

Professor Snape gestured to him, as if to pass the baton, “Firstly; hi, I’m not sure if you all know me but I’m Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. Secondly; the first three bits of reading are for general knowledge- Hogwarts: A History, Great Wizarding Events of the Twenty First Century and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Kurt paused to smile at his constituents, “Any questions?”

“Are these books available in the library?” Daphne asked softly in a slightly nasal voice.

“Yes they are and I have a copy of all three with additional notes.”

“How was this team picked?” Gregory asked in a low raspy voice.

“Well…” Kurt suddenly stopped, “I actually don’t know, how exactly was this team assembled?”

“I selected you based on the advisement of Draco Malfoy,” the man paused, “All except for Mr Hummel whom I personally selected.”

“Is that why you asked me about the best first years? Why isn’t Crabbe here instead of this muggle-born?” Draco gestured to Kurt, “At least Crabbe’s a pure-blood.”

Kurt felt that he could take no more, “Because my try-out is a formality,” Kurt smirked, “Every member of staff knows that my knowledge retention is superior to that of any first year student. I know more spells and more strategies than any of you or any of your pure-blood friends, that’s why I’m on this team.”

“Any other questions?” the aggression had crept its way into his voice, he was met by silence and blank stares, “Good. Dismissed.”

~0~

Kurt had grown tired of helping those miscreants figure out knowledge that, according to Draco Malfoy, they possessed naturally due to their pure-blood status. The team had met eight times in the last four weeks; Kurt would go over remedial spells, revise the past six weeks’ worth of school work and assign them additional reading materials. After the first few meetings Kurt realised that he was mostly being ignored by his peers in favour of Draco’s more practical suggestions; all except for Daphne Greengrass who chose to listen with precise intent, it made Kurt feel like his efforts weren’t completely wasted.

Today would be the day of ultimate satisfaction or unrivalled failure; had he been successful in training and educating the team compiled by his polar opposite? They may have fared reasonably in the theoretical but that mostly because he answered almost all of the questions apart from Gregory who seemed to have caught a thing or two in Herbology, maybe there was a future for him as a glorified magical gardener. On the other hand, the other houses had done well for themselves; though Kurt had been pleasantly surprised by his brother’s presence, Finn had shown a superior knowledge of potions. They had lost Millicent, who was eliminated due to having poor participation and no correct answers, and Daphne, who was eliminated because she was too shy to answer any questions. The only other team to suffer such losses was the Gryffindor team, who lost Seamus Finnegan and Ron; Kurt had been exceedingly pleased to see Ron eliminated although he would have fancied a chance to humiliate him in a duel. Kurt stood before professor McGonagall and drew a number for his duelling audition, he drew eleven which meant he’d be facing Wayne Hopkins from Hufflepuff in the first round; the boy in question didn’t seem the least bit intimidating but rather seemed to be cowering from Kurt as he approached him.

“Hi,” He smiled sweetly, “I’m Kurt, and I’ll be your opposition in the first round.”

“I know who you are,” Kurt raised an arched brow, “You always answer questions in Charms and you're Professor Flitwick’s favourite student.”

Kurt felt slightly uncomfortable, he knew that for him anonymity would always be out of reach but he didn’t see himself as a teacher’s pet, “I just wanted to wish you all the best for our duel.”

“Are you trying to psych me out?” the taller boy asked with slight aggression, “Because everyone knows that you're the better student.”

With hands held high in surrender, Kurt spoke in a calming voice, “I’m just genuinely being nice.” Wayne’s face softened, “I wish you all the best and I hope you make the team.”

“Thanks brah,” he smiled at Kurt; it wasn’t much of a smile, more like gas pains, before punching him on the shoulder, “Same.”

Kurt gave the boy forced smile before walking away in distaste of his horrid manner. Heroine as always was talking to herself whilst Ron tried to stuff useless knowledge into Harry’s mind in a failed attempt to be helpful and stay relevant. Kurt was raised to always be competitive and to give all competitions his all but not if it flies in the face of friendship, his father had instilled in both Finn and him the importance of competing graciously, so it was with that grace that he approached his friends.

“Neville, Harry, Hermione; congratulations on making it this far,” Kurt smiled with false sweetness, he was gracious but the bitch within just couldn’t let Ron be, “Ron, I can’t say I’m surprised you didn’t qualify for the duelling try-out but we all know it’s for your own good.”

Neville smiled broadly, “Thanks Kurt.”

“Bloody hell, why can’t you just leave us alone?” Ron spoke as though he represented the interests of the trio but Kurt knew he didn’t have that kind of power.

Kurt chose to ignore him and disregard all he’d said as though he didn’t exist, “Are you guys ready for your duels?”

“Yes.”

“No,” Hermione cried in a panicked frenzy, “I’m not ready, I don’t know enough spells.”

“Calm down,” Harry said soothingly, “who are you up against?”

“Gregory Goyle,” she took a deep breath, “Don’t tell me I’m set because he appears to be a big oaf, I’ve seen him in the library when he’s alone plus trained by Kurt.”

“So,” Ron said, “Kurt isn’t all that.”

“He’s the best in our year,” Harry said frankly.

“And he knows more advanced spells than any other first year,” Hermione said with the panic returning to her voice.

“Listen,” Kurt finally interjected, “Hermione, you are the brightest young witch of our age; you will go out there and do yourself proud. Now go out there and make a fool of Gregory.”

Ron began with a sneer, “I wouldn’t tru-”

“Shut up Ron!” Neville finally said in strong voice that startled Kurt for a moment, he calmed his voice before continuing, “Kurt is trying to help her and you’re just bitter you didn’t make the duelling tournament.”

“”Thank you Neville,” Kurt couldn’t help but blush because Neville had tried to be his knight in shining armour, “All the best Hermione.”

She scurried onto stage and took her position; the rules were read out, they were to disarm not harm their opponent. As quickly as Professor Flitwick had signalled the start of the duel, Gregory lay face down across the duelling strip with Hermione left standing taller. The first real magical duel he witnessed and he’d blinked it away, all those that followed were rather monotonous in comparison; Draco had disarmed Susan Bones from Hufflepuff quite easily, Harry and Sue Li had a lengthy back and forth casting of menial spells till finally the Ravenclaw’s stamina gave way, Ravenclaw’s Anthony Goldstein had been defeated by Finn quite easily which pleased Kurt as he and Finn had never been in direct competition with each other and this would be a good chance to see the better brother. The final duel before his own was between Neville and Stephen Cornfoot; Kurt watched with nervous intent, he knew that Neville could do this but the question was, would he? Kurt watched as Neville anxiously faced the rake thin Ravenclaw before humiliating the boy in a similar manner to which Hermione had Gregory.

Kurt drew a deep breath as he faced the diminutive Hufflepuff boy; Wayne bowed and Kurt froze for a moment in panic, his mind had gone blank! Wayne stayed bowed waiting for Kurt to bow back, Kurt nodded his head in acknowledgement, Wayne stood with his wand at ready whilst Kurt stood in panic with arms by his side as Professor Flitwick counted them down to start of the duel.

Taking a fighting pose Wayne screamed his first incantation as though it were a war cry, “E

“Protego,” Kurt said instinctively deflecting the spell, “Alarte Ascendare,” Wayne was flung ten feet off the ground, as he plummeted to the ground Kurt flicked his wand and spoke his final incantation, “Depulso.”

Wayne was flung about until it was ultimately obvious that Kurt was the victor; Kurt curtsied to the crowd of their peers whilst the other boy puked out his guts. Kurt was too adrenaline pumped to notice anything other than results; Padma Petil from Ravenclaw annihilated Hufflepuff’s Hannah Abbot and young Ravenclaw, Isobel MacDougal, barely beat Roger Malone who was Hufflepuff’s last standing competitor aside from Finn. The first round ended with one Hufflepuff, two Ravenclaws, two Slytherins and three Gryffindors left in the running.

The second round was opened by a fiery duel between Draco and Hermione, Kurt took note that the level of spells had increased; it seemed that both parties were out to seriously maim as opposed to the recommended disarming. Kurt could see a spell or two he’d taught to Hermione in the mix but her duelling style was too rigid and it was costing her. She did end the duel on her terms with a mild stunning spell, Kurt was proud of her even if she’d left him as the last standing Slytherin.

Harry seemed to have an air of arrogance about him as he approached Finn; Kurt admitted that his brother wasn’t the brightest star in the night sky, he knew never to underestimate him and that seemed to be a mistake Harry was about to make. Two quick spells later, Harry was lying face down with his spectacles an arm’s length away.

Kurt stood facing Neville, “No hard feelings.”

“Bring it!” Neville quipped.

They bowed to each other, Kurt waited for their queue to begin before casting his shielding spell to counter Neville’s disarming charm. Kurt knew that he respected Neville too much to humiliate him by defeating him with the exact same strategy or by going easy on him; “Stupify,” he stunned Neville then decided to end it all with a non-verbal body binding curse but Neville deflected it which aggravated Kurt, he smiled wickedly, “Let’s play.”

Neville seemed unfazed by the threatening tone Kurt had adopted, “Reducto.”

Kurt effortlessly blocked the curse by levitating furniture into its path, “Levicorpus. While Neville was hoisted in the air he repeated the stunning spell, knocking Neville across the Great Hall.

The last duel of the second round was between the last two Ravenclaws but apparently their strategy included Padma being the Ravenclaw champion to progress to the third round because Isobel didn’t even try to counter or block Padma’s disarming charm. At the end of the second round, as though by some dark force, there was a member of each house remaining.

They took a short break between rounds, Kurt was approached by the rest of his original team, “Hey guys,” he smirked smugly because for a change it was his turn, “Tough luck, if only you’d listened to me instead of some ignorant parasite that was defeated in close to no time.”

“Shut up Hummel,” Draco sniffled, “Granger obviously cheated.”

“We just came to with you good luck,” Gregory said with a shy smile, “Do well for Slytherin.” The entire team smiled aside from Draco who was still sulking. Kurt personally wasn’t particularly fond of his teammates and he knew that this gesture wasn’t about him but rather their competitive nature driving their almost bearable behaviour; something deep in Kurt could help but be touched by their failed attempt at civil behaviour.

“Don’t mess up Fancy Pants,” Millicent said successfully killing what little faith Kurt still had in their humanity. He rolled his eyes and shooed them away as Hermione and Finn took the stand, they face each other and bowed before Professor Flitwick gave them the nod to begin.

Hermione still lacked fluidity in her moves so despite her superior knowledge, that she’d gained from Kurt, Finn managed to breakdown her duelling strategy into singular moves; this allowed him to easily counter and attack her. After a short duel, Hermione was defeated due to her lack of style and the under developed consciousness of battle.

Kurt took his position; Padma didn’t seem intimidated by his obvious knowledge of spells and charms, he would enjoy changing that. He bowed in an overly elaborate manner and took starting pose, Croisé Devant.

“Flipendo,” Kurt began, knocking the Ravenclaw over.

She landed with an elegance that angered Kurt, she was good, “Verdimillious.” The sparks that shot out her wand stung Kurt and caused him to become disorientated, “Incendio.”

As the flames shot toward Kurt he barely had time to react, he jumped out of the way and got angry, “Aguamenti!” A strong spout of water shot out of the tip of Kurt’s wand, he quickly shaped it into a wall of entrapment for his opponent, “Glacius.”

He stared at the girl trapped in ice with just her face free; she struggled for a moment before accepting defeat, “I give up.”

“Finite incantatem.” Kurt said releasing her.

Kurt was quite chuffed until he realised that it was him and Finn in the finale; he wasn’t sure if this made defeating him harder or easier but he bowed none the less and took his preferred starting position.

“Stupify,” Finn started as soon as they were signalled to begin, Kurt had grown tired of everyone else just using the same strategy when he went through the effort of coming up with different strategies for each of them.

He slid to the side and decided to take the lazy man’s way out and repeat his strategies in a slightly altered way, “Carpe Retractum.” Kurt flung Finn ten feet into the air and then slammed him on the ground before he threw him at the back wall.

Finn was back on his feet in no time, “Tarantallegra.”

Kurt didn’t feel any different or for that fact like anything was happening, “Dancing feet?”

“Uh-huh,” Finn smiled proudly.

“My feet are already always dancing.” Kurt danced form left to right in an effort to confuse Finn and work with the curse, “Glacius,” he froze Finn’s feet in place, “Incendio!”

“Aguamenti,” Finn countered as expected.

The water evaporated and filled the room with thick steam; just the way Kurt wanted it, in case he failed. He pointed his wand at the ceiling and spoke the incantation, “fulgur percusserit.” A bolt of blue lightning shot into his wand, the lightning flowed through his body like an irresistibly powerful energy before he directed it to just before Finn’s feet, knocking his brother across the room.

“Hogwarts duelling champion for the Basic Academic Tournament,” Professor McGonagall announced triumphantly, “Kurt Hummel!”

Professor Flitwick stood beside her, “The team will be; Padma Petil- Ravenclaw,” There was large cheer from all her fellow Ravenclaws, “Hermione Granger- Gryffindor, Finn Hudson- Hufflepuff, and Neville Longbottom- Gryffindor.”

A silence swept over the Great Hall, Neville looked horrified by the prospect. Kurt waited to see who would break the silence so he could jinx them into tomorrow but everybody held their composure, as if aware of the imminent danger.

 


	4. Chapter 4

For the first time in weeks Kurt found a spare moment to himself where he could sit down and think; think of the success of his first attempt at creating or, more specifically in this case, modifying a spell. Professor Flitwick had been quite impressed, hounding him with questions on how he had discovered the art and what other spells he intended on working on. Professor Snape on the other hand reacted with suspicion and apprehension, interrogating Kurt as to how he acquired such subject matter as it was restricted to junior students; it was quite to his surprise that Kurt had derived the information from the professor’s very own notes in detention.

Whilst faculty members were impressed and flawed by his display of superior knowledge and application of magic, his peers were far from impressed. The faculty had showered with compliments praises as though he’d already won gold at the B.A.Ts; they used his spell in their examples during their lessons, they made reference to it in disciplinary measures, they awarded him fifty house points and they even had The Daily Prophet cover his supposedly unheard of achievement; they’d even gone so far as to write his father a note of congratulations. All the attention made Kurt feel uneasy, as though the circulation of his name and picture would ultimately result in his misfortune. He knew he was being unnecessarily paranoid; after all, to most he was still nothing more than a nobody muggle-born.

His peers had chosen to react in a more hostile manner; Kurt had fallen prey to bullying in the weeks that followed his try out. These kids weren’t the most creative but they knew how to kick some one where it hurt; they cut the strap of his messenger bag daily, they would shove him in the corridors at every given opportunity and steal his stuff when he wasn’t watching it like a hawk but he soon taught them a lesson by hexing his stuff to burn his initials temporarily onto the thief’s wrist. The part that was worst for Kurt though were the constant whispers behind his back, even people he considered to be close acquaintances would speak ill of him in his absence; he was left feeling desolate and alone but was forced to spend almost every waking moment in crowded spaces.

The practices for the BAT were primarily his responsibility, with a professor attending to keep the peace; he would do as he had done with the Slytherins but with a more interested response and without the constant threat of a coup de tat. He knew that this was primarily due to the fact that the team was made up primarily of his friends and Padma, who as a Ravenclaw had a thirst for knowledge that was unquenchable; as such everyone remained docile and sociable. His research into the tournament had afforded him knowledge into how widespread his opposition was and this had instilled the importance of gaining knowledge from every reach of the planet in an effort to be ready for every possible situation. Kurt had first dissected Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them; storyboarding each species and subspecies, he then added all the minor information such as the species origin, geographical distribution, characteristics, special abilities, affliction to magic and related species. They had then progressed to a similar set up for plants that presented a platform for Neville to show prowess over the subject matter that never seized to surprise all of them.

It hadn’t taken long for Kurt to grow bored of the monotony of practices and their lack of room for creative freedom; he felt as though he was limited in his expression and exploration of magic, back home he would have redirected this energy into shopping, writing and his dancing career but he had no such luck. He had sat down in perfect view of the womping willow; he had grown fond of the tree, draw similarities between himself and its aggressive misunderstood beauty, but he was yet to go near it out of both fear and respect; he was writing an update letter to his father. He wrote the letter as he usually did; he emphasized how blissfully consuming the academic curriculum was and how much he enjoyed it, he spoke of his friends and always made reference to one of the many quirky adventures they undertook, he would complain briefly of how medieval Hogwarts was, and finally throw in some bitching about his peers; this assured that the letter had both necessary believability and comfort to put his dad at ease. Another incentive for writing home was that his letters were always returned with news of joy and projects undertaken; his last letter came with white calfskin Burkin for him and a broomstick for Finn, which he apparently had special permission to own.

‘Kurt I’m going to surprise you,’ he heard Finn’s thoughts in his head, ‘please don’t kill or terribly maim me.’

It made him feel warm fuzzies whenever he heard Finn’s thoughts in his head; they let him know that he always had a small piece of home with him. He smiled, ‘I’ll allow it.’

“Wooglymoogly!” Finn jumped out of nowhere and Kurt feigned surprise with a toe curling scream, “It’s just me.”

Kurt looked at the larger boy’s goofy smile, “Don’t do that! You could have killed me!” Kurt said clutching his chest as though his heart were racing, he paused for a moment, “how’s it hanging Finnocence?”

“A little to the left.”

Kurt felt the bile rise; he had to repress this memory for the rest of his life. He stared daggers at his brother, “You disgust me! I think I might mention this to Carole, in my biweekly letter.”

“No!” he looked mortified, “I might get a howler like Neville did from his Grandmother.”

“Your mother doesn’t know magic,” Kurt never seized to be amazed by the way his brother’s mind worked, “she can’t send howlers.”

“She’ll find a way,” Finn sat uncomfortably close to Kurt, “So, you writing in your diary?”

“You know my diary writes itself, I got a quick quotes quill.”

“What does it say about Cedric?” Finn asked in a sing song voice, making kissy faces at Kurt, “Does it say that you love him?”

“Why? What’d you here?” Kurt stopped suddenly, “I do not! My feelings for Cedric are purely platonic.”

“I don’t know what platonic means,” Finn said throwing his arm around Kurt, “but it probably means you want to kiss him, hold him and love him.”

“Or it could mean I want to murder my brother,” Kurt pushed Finn off the bench they were sharing, “ever been struck by lightning?”

“Okay,” Finn looked nervous but still laughed, “I’m sorry.”

Kurt helped his brother back up, “Now speaking of Cedric,” Kurt’s curiosity had been piqued, “where is he? Aren’t you two inseparable?”

“He’s in Hogsmead,” Finn said with a bit of whimper, “But he did say he’d bring me back some candy.”

“Candy?” Kurt said with faked enthusiasm, “A man after your own heart.”

“Totally writing ‘Mrs Finn Diggory’ all over my stuff,” He said in a dreamy voice as he dragged Kurt back into the castle, “Then we’ll have something in common.”

~0~

Kurt stood before the embossed gargoyle once again, Professor Flitwick had delivered his summons from the headmaster. Kurt wasn’t sure what his meeting about he could guess it was more likely to about the B.A.T than his conduct because as Fred and George never failed to remind him, he had been noticeably absent from detention lately. Kurt climbed the spiral staircase and knocked on the doors once more. The office invited him in; Kurt still wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

The majestic bird didn’t look so great, with its feathers moulting, it looked to be very far along in age; Kurt supposed it must have been a different bird because it appeared to be quite healthy and in the prime of its youth a couple of weeks ago.

“Kurt! What a pleasure it is to see you again,” the man stood in lime floral robes and a matching biretta with a red plume, “Kurt, I was hoping to match your broach.”

The man sounded disappointed, Kurt looked down at the black diamond silver spider broach, “Oh sorry, this one matches my Burkin better.”

“Alas,” the man hung his hands up in defeat, “please take a seat. Tell me, how are you?”

“I’ve been better,” he paused for a moments, “well, it’s Halloween today and it’s my dad’s favourite holiday; he lives by the slut rule; lingerie and animal ears or occupational headgear, he was going to be a slutty construction worker.”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry to hear that.” The man smiled, “I brought you here to congratulate you on your selection for the B.A.T team and your placement as captain; this is a true display of your leadership potential a very important characteristic of Slytherin house.”

Kurt smiled politely, “Thank you sir.”

The man hung his head in deep contemplation and regret, “But unfortunately not all my news is good.”

“Oh my gosh,” Kurt whispered, “I went to boarding school and left my dad to die of a broken heart.”

“What? No,” Dumbledore turned around a black and white picture on his desk of young boy, a few years older than Kurt but with the same dark hair, pale skin and upturned nose. Kurt paused for a moment looking at the way the boy emanated an air of superiority in a similar manner he did, “Is that a relative of mine because I thought I was quite clear in our last meeting about not wanting anything to do with them, regardless of who they were.”

“No, not to my knowledge but it has become the belief of many of your peers.” He let out a ragged breath, “This is Tom Morvolo Riddle; he was one of the most gifted students to walk these halls. He was gifted in Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, he too loved to read much like you but soon his subject matter of choice turned to the dark arts. He became more and more curious, he went so far as to practice forbidden magic. He would later become the darkest wizard of all time?”

“Lord Voldemort?”

“You’re familiar?” the man seemed surprised, “I’m not surprised, he is notorious. Though he was believed to have been defeated years ago, many still believe him to be at large; so when you present many similarities to him, in both your physical appearance and academic prowess-”

“People think I’m the second coming,” Kurt was shocked, his ambiguous parentage made even him unsure and doubtful.

“I knew Tom,” Dumbledore said in his soothingly monotonous voice, “He was never as anything like you; he was always cruel. He didn’t have friends, he had followers.”

“So then why bring it up?” Kurt was curious, was he being baited or played was this a guise to try to get him to pursuit his ancestry?

The man was quiet for a moment longer than Kurt was comfortable with, “I want you to know that magic is alive, it is consuming and dangerous. It can corrupt even the most strong willed, I was once almost drawn into a dark and twisted journey, and it took a great tragedy to set me on my path again. Magic will get into your mind and exploit your thoughts and feelings; I loved Gellert Grindewald within moments of meeting him and I still do. I was so blinded that I let him become one of the darkest wizards of all time before doing anything about it; thousands of lives were lost at his hands because I was too dumbstruck to question his moral standing.”

“Prof-”

He raised a dismissive hand let out a shaken breath, “Dark magic exploited Gellert’s psychological instabilities and corrupted my love for him; I’m not telling you to give up on your noble pursuit of knowledge or to fear the future but rather I implore you to anchor yourself to reality.”

Kurt wasn’t sure how to react, “Thank you.”

“In parting, I hope you don’t disregard the words of a crazy old fool,” He said with a giggle.

“What?” Kurt said meeting his attempt at lifting the mood halfway, “Those are my favourite kinds of words.”

Kurt got up to leave when the headmaster stopped him, “Now you said this was a Burkin?”

“Yes,” Kurt smiled; it had been so long since he’d spoken fashion, “it’s made by Hermès.”

“I take this is a muggle thing?” Dumbledore said as he inspected the bag, “It is quite lovely.”

“I know, my mother was originally on the waiting list before she died,” Kurt paused for a moment at the hallowed memory, “They hand make everyone, spent six years on the list for one.”

Dumbledore didn’t seem to grasp the concept well, “You are joking; it takes muggles six years to make a bag?”

“No, you wait six years for them to make yours;” Kurt giggled, “They are very exclusive, all the biggest people have them, Donatella Versace has two.”

“Very well,” Dumbledore laughed, “I must get one, can’t have Donatella out doing me.”

“I know right,” he promptly exited before he could be roped into any further conversation.

Kurt hurried down to his Charms class. when he arrived he was greeted by a sea of unpleasant face barring Neville who, as always, was pleased to see him. He carried himself with pride and got shout from Finn across the classroom as he took his seat. He knew that today they’d be doing the levitation charm which was one of the first spells Kurt witnessed and practiced, he’d also deprived himself the pleasure of helping Neville by teaching him how to walk himself through spells. Kurt had taken to jotting down duelling strategies and ideas for new spells. He placed the given feather in front of him as instructed as he had elected to participate for a change; he quite easily levitated the feather without drawing any attention but chose to challenge himself by levitating something heavier and more precious, he placed his brooch on the desk in front of him.

“Wingaurdriam leveosar.” Ron said waving his wand furiously.

“Stop.” Hermione said, “You’re going to put someone’s eye out like that.”

Neville suddenly screamed out, “Oh god! My favourite eye!” as Ron’s wand flew across the class room. Kurt had been the first to scream in horror at the mustard liquid that oozed from between the boy’s fingers, the streaks of red made Kurt’s stomach churn. Ron had long since broken down in tears, having permanently partially blinded one of his class mates despite being warned. “Jokes!” Neville said with a laugh as he removed his hand to show a sachet of liquid and a clear unharmed blue eye, “Fred and George helped me with it.”

“What the fuck?” Kurt was so angry that he couldn’t help his instincts, “I thought you had actually lost an eye!”

“Mr Hummel! That language is unacceptable, detention, the same goes for you Mr Longbottom.” Professor Flitwick spoke firmly, “The pair of you needs to stop disrupting my class, the rest of you back to work.”

“Accio wand,” Ron’s wand flew into Kurt’s hand, he handed it to Ron who was pretending he hadn’t been in tears, “It’s wingardium, not wingaurdriam.”

Kurt was smug as he handed the boy his wand, “And it’s leviosa, not leveosar,” Hermione added with a laugh.

“If you're so brilliant,” Ron whined, “you do it.”

“Wingardium leviosa,” they both said, Kurt’s spider flew onto Ron’s desk whilst Hermione’s feather tickled him causing the red haired boy to scream.

They were dismissed which signalled the end of the school day, Kurt and Hermione were lazing their way out of the classroom over to the library when the overheard the conversation:

“It’s wingardium not wingaurdrium,” Seamus said in a nasal high pitched voice that Kurt supposed was an imitation of himself, the group of Gryffindor boys laughed.

“And it’s leviosa not leveosar,” Ron said adding a forced overbite at the end of his imitation of Hermione, “Nightmares, the pair of them, no wonder got no friends.”

“Stuck up and self-entitled,” Seamus added.

“No one can stand either one of them,” Dean quipped with a pained facial expression, “At least they have each other till they discover how irritating they are.”

Hermione stormed past them and away from Kurt in tears, Kurt couldn’t contain his anger but knew from his meeting with professor Dumbledore that it wasn’t the time for magic. He shoved Dean to the ground, right hooked Seamus in the face and kicked Ron in the nuts before running off to console Hermione.

“I think they heard you.” He heard Harry say.

Kurt was running down the third floor corridor when he heard his name being called, he turned to see dreamy Cedric Diggory waving him over. He was tempted to go over and melt at the presence of the ever charming fourth year but knew better, “I can’t, my best friend is having a crisis.” He said before running off.

He cautiously entered the third floor girls’ bathroom, “Hermione!” he called after her but there was no response, “I know you’re in here!”

“Be quiet!” Moaning Mertyl screeched at him, “I’m trying to brood about joys of death.”

Kurt had never taken her for brooding type but he complied none the less, “Hermione, come on, I don’t like this place.”

“Go away,” Hermione said from the last stall between sobs; Kurt sat down in front of the stall door quietly and waited.

“Does it ever stop hurting?” Kurt was woken from a light slumber by the barely whispered words.

“What?” he was still slightly groggy and didn’t quite understand the question, he compiled his thoughts and readied himself to answer the question.

“Do the words and snide comments and whispers ever stop hurting?” Hermione was still sobbing and her voice was coarse like gravel, “Does the pain of their laughter ever end?”

“Never,” Kurt answered his voice was soft, light and distant; he paused to recompose himself, he was meant to make her feel better, “But it stops mattering and slowly it becomes insignificant. Slowly the words become your own to use and the laughter becomes your joy. After long enough; the whispers are inaudible.”

“So the pain and hurt never go away but I never have to feel like this?” Kurt was silent and unable to answer, he didn’t know what to tell her, “Kurt?”

“I can’t say for sure,” He didn’t want his best friend becoming emotionally detached like he had slowly become, “If you don’t want to feel this way then you don’t have to but part of life is feeling awful.” Kurt laughed to himself, “I once read somewhere that, ‘that which does not kill you: leaves scars, ruins your lungs, dries out all of your tears, leaves you lying awake at four in the morning wishing you weren’t alive and lets you live to feel incomparable joys.’ It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”

The words hung in the air, Kurt thought of them as well. He had never given himself advice like that, not even when times were toughest; he had a new perspective and angle to view life from, at point when he felt he had himself figured out.

“The world isn’t ending today,” she said finally breaking the lingering silence. She opened the stall causing Kurt to fall backwards, “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me, just send money.” Kurt smiled at his friend, “Help me up you dumb whore.”

She pulled him to his feet, “You know we should get down to dinner because I am huu… hooo… hhee… hhuuu…-” she suddenly fell silent with horror sweeping over her face.

“Use your words,” Kurt giggled, “Sound it out, hu-ng-r-ee.”

She let out a shrill high pitched howl that caused a temporary ringing in Kurt’s ears, “What is the big deal? What could Mertyl possibly be doing?” he turned around to see callused grey legs that stretched quite high to a broad torso with long simianesque arm that carried a wooden club and a disproportionally small head with large ears sticking out on either side, a bulbous nose and a set of misshapen teeth. Kurt screamed while his mind tried to figure out what was happening, “OGRE!” the word suddenly came pouring out of his mouth and he couldn’t stop, “OGRE! OGRE! OGRE!”

Hermione finally put her hand over his mouth, “Go left,” she whispered as she ran right.

Kurt took off at high speed; he dropped his wand in his haste. The ogre was confused for a moment, destroying the stalls in an effort to get Kurt before taking off after Hermione, as he regained his composure he was knocked out of the way and into the wall by Ron and Harry who entered the bathroom right then.

“Hermione,” Harry shouted as she hid under the basins, the troll swung its club and destroyed the basins causing water to spray all over the place, “Look out!”

Ron and Harry started throwing debris at the troll whilst Kurt tried to shake off what he was beginning to suspect was a concussion, “Accio wand.” He willed the wand to him, he had to lean against a wall to shake a dizzy spell.

When he had himself back in check, the troll had Harry in hand and was swinging its club at him, “Wingardium leviosa,” Ron said under Hermione’s trick advisement which stopped the club in mid-air. Kurt, even in his dazed state, couldn’t give Ron the satisfaction of rescuing him.

“Reducto,” he destroyed the club and turned his attention to the troll, “Reducio.” The troll began to shrink; when it was knee height he kicked it toward the basins but his fracture concentration cause it start growing sooner than usual. As a result, a full grown troll was flung through the wall into the corridor, effectively knocked out. He saw a furious McGonagall with the rest of the Hogwarts staff in tow before his vision began to fade to blurs and words melted into slurs, “I think I need an ambulance,” Kurt said as everything melted to darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

Kurt woke up feeling like the West End production of Cats had been in his head; he was groggy and didn’t recognize where he was, this prompted him to scream under the presumption that he’d been kidnapped and taken to his death.

“Mr Hummel,” Madam Pomphry said in her always pleasantly shrill sing song voice, it soothed him with its tone and familiarity, “You’ve finally woken.”

“Oh my gosh,” Kurt was suddenly distraught again, “What year is it? Is this the twenty-first century? Did Madonna become old and insignificant?”

“What?” she was taken aback by all the questions, “It’s been a couple of hours, you were brought in with a concussion but now I’m starting to suspect that something much more severe.”

“This is all Ron Weasley’s fault!” Kurt saw red at the memory of the previous day, he now remembered that he had a score to settle, “When can I leave?”

“You were set to go but after that mindless babbling I am obligated to observe you for the rest of the day,” She looked at him sternly and her voice went up an octave, “Not negotiable.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Kurt was distraught, not about missing school but about being confined to this room and being checked up on at intervals. He had to get out and live or he might spontaneously combust; he thought to mention this but then thought better of it, his sanity was already under question and he did not need to rock that boat. “The whole day? I have school work to do.”

“Oh Mr Hummel,” she did not look the least bit pleased, “It seems that despite your supposed great intellect, you fail to grasp the concept of non-negotiable.”

“You’re on my list lady,” he said squaring up with her.

Kurt took this as an opportunity to truly immerse himself in his skin routine and give himself a spa day. He started at the bottom with a simple sea salt pedicure; he felt his feet were getting ashy which is unacceptable for someone of his calibre. He followed this up with a simple manicure with just a subtle polish. He finally cleansed and gave himself an exfoliating mud mask, he reclined and relaxed.

Kurt was disturbed from his relaxation by the subtle sound of breathing, “I can here you breathing. Stop staring, haven’t you ever seen a mud mask before?” he opened his eyes to utter surprise; there Finn and Cedric were watching him, Kurt wanted to curl into himself in embarrassment. “Finn,” he smiled politely, “you should really warn me when you're going to visit, especially when you’re bringing company.”

“What?” Finn said with a smug smile, “you would have put your face on?”

Cedric laughed softly, “Oh you’ve been saving that one for a while,” Kurt said staring daggers at the pair.

“How are you?” Cedric asked, “I heard you got a concussion saving Harry, Hermione and Ron from an army of trolls.”

“What?” Kurt was confused, that was a big stretch of the truth.

“Well, I heard you lost an arm fighting the trolls,” Finn said with a proud smile, “you must be so glad they could reattach it.”

“Where is this coming from?” Kurt was baffled, “Why does everyone think there was an army of trolls in the school?”

“Because Ron claimed he defeated a troll,” Finn said as though Kurt was an idiot for not knowing this, “saving you, Harry and Hermione but then Hermione was telling everyone that you were the only reason that you guys survived.”

“So people came to the conclusion that there was obviously more than one troll,” Cedric said with a chuckle, “with Ron beating one whilst you took on the rest.”

“And you two believed this,” Kurt was so disappointed in the pair, “there was one troll and no one was maimed in any way, I got my concussion when Ron and Harry bumped into me when they entered the bathroom.”

“So you didn’t save them?” Finn asked sounding quite displeased by the thought of his brother being anything less than a hero.

“Oh, I saved them,” Kurt smiled as he saw the light returning to Finn’s face, “I went on fighting, concussion and all, destroyed the troll’s club and then I shrunk him down and kicked him through the wall.”

“You are so cool!” Finn said with stars of admiration in his eyes, “best brother ever! I think that might actually be cooler than the rumours.”

“I try,” Kurt always tried to be Finn’s hero because Finn was always his hero when he needed it, “Now go or you’ll be late for study hall and McGonagall will have your head.”

“Let’s go Ced.”

“I’m just going to have a little chat with Kurt first,” Cedric smiled down at Kurt, “I’ll catch up.”

“Sure,” Finn said, as soon as Cedric turned toward Kurt he made kissy faces behind the older boy’s back, “Bye Kurt.”

“Die Finn.” Kurt said with a wicked smile on his face.

“What?” Kurt shot Cedric a confused, innocent look, “I just wanted to tell you that you are truly an amazing brother, the way you just made Finn’s day. He thinks the world of you and you never exploit that, truly noble.”

“Finn and I go back beyond being brothers,” Kurt smiled at the distant memory, “we were friends before we were brothers and he was my anchor when my mum died, he means the world to me and I would do everything in my power to never disappoint him.”

“That is mighty noble,” Cedric said with a gently smile.

“Cedric!” Finn howled in antsy tone, “Come on!”

“Gotta go,” he said as he left bumping into Hermione on his way out.

“Someone had a visit from Cedric Diggory!” she squealed excitedly.

“No,” Kurt laughed modestly, “it’s not like that at all, he was here with Finn.”

“Yes but he stayed behind to whisper sweet nothings to you,” She said in sing song voice, “there is no denying that much.”

“I feel like you're making something of nothing,” he said turning from her.

“I don’t think so,” she said jabbing him in the ribs.

“You think?” he asked excitedly, “because I do sort of carry a torch for him so I thought I was viewing the situation through rose coloured glasses.”

“I’m sorry but the Statue of Liberty sort of carries a torch,” she gave him a sideways look through hooded eyes, “you’re like Apollo, dragging the bloody sun around.”

Kurt was honestly horrified, “Am I that obvious?”

“No,” she said in a matter of fact tone, “I just read your diary.”

“You did what now?” barked at his friend.

“In my defence,” she held her hands up in surrender, “I thought it was a very sad hand written book.”

Kurt was breathing fire at this point, “How? It has a concealing charm on it.”

“I have a revealer,” she smiled, “it was truly a page turner.”

“How did you get your grubby paws on it? It’s supposed to be in my chest, in my room,” Kurt stared daggers at her, “which has a jinx on it.”

“Finite incantatem,” she said with a giggle, “I learnt it from you.”

“Oh, you are good,” Kurt guffawed, “But if you touch my stuff again I will stab you!”

“Okay mister, put some panties on because I’m busting you out,” she pointed to the bathroom, “we’ve got less than a week till we leave for the B.A.T!”

“Uh whatever… I am totally ready.” She gave him a look that seemed to question the validity of his statement, he suddenly paused thinking about his position as captain, “Okay, the team needs me. Give me a second; I’m over this place, let me put on some decent clothes and let’s blow this joint.”

Hermione looked excited, “We’re going to the Far East! Mahoutokoro School of Magic is said to be the most exclusive natural based school in the world, their curriculum is supposed to be based entirely on the principals of Godai.”

“When did you guys find out about the hosting school? Actually, I don’t care because you are going to give me a run down,” Kurt cleaned off the mask and put on black and white chequered button down shirt, knee length chino shorts with a crimson boyfriend blazer.

As he got dressed Hermione informed him what the official invitation and newsletter had said, “So they invite twelve schools to participate and one is selected to host at random, this year it’s that one in Japan. The host school selects the theme and this year they picked Godai which is magic that utilizes only earth, water, fire, wind and void.”

“So we have to double up on our Herbology,” Kurt smiled to himself as he thought about how extreme Mahoutakoro’s home turf advantage seemed to be, “they were smart by picking their speciality as the theme.”

“I know, there must be some kind of rule against that. The first round is pools of three and both of our competitors are speciality schools; The Bermuda Academy for the Aquatic Magical Arts is underwater, all the students are part mermaid and have been raised practicing water based magic, and then there is Abafileo School of Ancestral Magic from South Africa which performs all natural earth and spiritual magic. There is not a hope in hell of us winning.”

“I’m a pyromaniac if that helps in any way.” Kurt pause for a moment, he considered their impending demise, “Well, now we have to have some fun with it for sure!”

“What do you mean ‘fun’?” Hermione prodded at him in distress, “We’re going to lose, dead last! Does that mean nothing to you?”

Kurt smiled devilishly as he thought of a new fresh approach, “I need to get out of here and be seen!”

“Really? Be seen?” She looked at him expectantly, “Did you miss the bit about us losing?”

“I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” he pulled up his combat boots, “You're wearing a turtleneck.”

“You wore a turtle neck last week!” she protested defensively clutching her knitwear top, “What’s the difference?”

“I did wear a turtleneck,” Kurt humbly admitted, “But it wasn’t fugly.”

“Where does his highness wish to be seen?” the smugness dripping in her tone; “To the quador maybe you’d like to parade our imminent loss in the great hall.”

“Great Hall sounds good to me,” He led the way through the maze of corridors with Hermione following behind him with a look of confusion riddling her face as she fired question after question at Kurt. He dared not answer a single one of her questions but chose to maintain the air of mystery, “Follow my lead.” He readied his wand and walked with precise intention but was stopped short by Hermione’s laboured breaths, “What on God’s green earth are you doing?”

“I’m following your lead,” she straightened her cocked hip, “I don’t know how you walk and stand like this, my spine is crying out in protest.”

“You poor amateur,” Kurt looked at her with disappointed eyes, “It’s not about walking like me, it’s about the presence and respect you command! Attitude is everything and it’s individualistic, so don’t try to steal mine!”

“Okay,” she smiled shyly, “my own attitude, I can do that.”

“Don’t do,” he shook his head in disappointment, “Own!” He took off once more in a brisk walk, “Send everyone summons that tell them to meet me in the great hall.”

“Okay, when?” Hermione asked as her quill quickly scratched the three summons, Kurt merely shot her a look that made her know what he meant, “Right, now.”

Kurt entered the now deserted Great Hall; his peers had probably rushed through their daily homework so that they could get a head start on their weekend plans or get their attire for tomorrow’s Slytherin vs. Gryffindor quidditch match ready. Kurt, much to his rugby fan father’s dismay, had never really cared for any sport in particular and as his father had discovered the hard way; it would take magic he didn’t think existed to change his stance on that branch recreational activities. “Time for a little redecorating,” Kurt smiled wickedly as he flipped the centre tables onto outer tables before pushing the stack taller than himself off to the side. The noise had been great and he knew it would draw a crowd.

“Kurt! What are you doing?” Neville demanded in a breathless shout, “also, how are you?”

Kurt narrowed his vision, “What did I say to you about being more in control of yourself?”

“Everyone but you,” Kurt nodded in agreement, “Hermione! What is Kurt doing?”

“I don’t know!” Hermione squealed defensively, “Why would you think he would explain himself to anyone?”

“Well, it is your handwriting on the invitation,” Kurt added as he wrote five words on the walls, “Earth, water, fire, wind and void. You are late Padma!”

“I don’t even know what’s going on,” she said quizzically, “I was doing my nails with Parvati when I got Hermione’s summons.”

“Yeah, Hermione,” Finn asked seeming to have appeared out of nowhere, “Why’d you call us- is there something different about this place?”

“The drapes are new,” Kurt said as he locked the main entrance, “And it’s about to get ugly. You guys heard about the theme, we’ve had less than a week’s notice to work on it and we’re going into this with a bit of a disadvantage against some of the schools that practice speciality magic.”

“But we’re not going to give up,” Hermione said through a false smile before shooting Kurt an angry look, “Right Kurt? We need to teach them never to tickle a sleeping dragon.”

“Yes, my thought exactly!” Kurt smirked to himself, “if they think we’re going to down without a little fight, some school spirit and lot of attitude.”

“How exactly are we going to do that?” Padma demanded with a fierce scowl on her face.

“Well,” Hermione said with a proud smile, “I suggest we head to the library and-”

“BORING!” Finn screamed in her ear.

“Really bright spark?” she looked thoroughly peeved by his actions, “What do you suggest? Your subject matter is all natural and the rest of us need the time so we don’t know four spells like yourself, we’re going to be given theoretical and practical situations and we need to be able to think of magic that fits the bill on the spot.”

“I think we should find loopholes,” Neville mumbled under his breath but nobody took notice as they carried on screaming at and over each other. Neville cleared his throat and took a deep breath before belting out, “I said, I think we should find loopholes in the theme.”

“That is brilliant Neville!” Kurt was bouncing up and down in his canvas boots, “We need to stretch this theme as far as possible without getting in trouble.”

“Who has their invitation?” Hermione demanded, she was met with looks of confusion, “It’ll likely have the rules on it or a reference to where we can find them.”

Each of them barring Kurt, who was yet to receive his invitation, were able to furnish an invitation; each having a set of rules printed on the reverse side. They sat silently in a circle on the floor reading through their designated sections of the rules; all that is, aside from Finn who’d taken to slacking due to Kurt sharing his invitation.

“Oh, I’ve got it!” Padma exclaimed joyfully, she began to read the relevant passage, “The Godai elements are five with each being further divided or specified into a subordinate aspect. The first of these is Do or Earth; this represents all that is hard and static, Do deals primarily in magic that harnesses chi.  
The second element is Sui or Water; this represents all that is fluid and dynamic, Sui is associated with magic that is emotive, defensive, magnetic and adaptable.  
The third element is Ka or Fire; this element is prevalent in the energy, movement and forces of the world; this magic channels the user’s passion.  
The fourth element is Fū or Wind; represents that which expands in the world, channelling kinetics.   
The Fifth and final element is Kū or Void; represents the things that are outside of this physical plain but are purely energy.”

“What does all that mumbo-jumbo even mean?” Finn asked with a look of great confusion on his face; just when Kurt the magical world had turned Finn into an intellectually functional human being, he manages to prove him wrong.

“We know what the broader picture is,” Hermione spoke breaking the silence that had crept its way into their conversation, “We know that we can use traditional blocking spells and charms, we’re also allowed all kinds of pyro-kinesis, hydro-kinesis, geo-kinesis, aero-kinesis and telekinesis.”

“Now we go to the library?” Neville asked cautiously; Kurt took note that he had realised that like everyone, he was subordinate to Kurt.

“Mr Hummel!” Kurt deflated at the sound of Professor McGonagall’s voice, “What is the meaning of this?”

“Professor,” his voice belittled her authority, “we’re just practicing.”

McGonagall pursed her lips and gave him an astute look, “Mr Hummel, it seems that your behaviour has spiralled out of control. You are not the young man you were a month or so ago, and it seems you have a negative influence on your peers; I mean you Ms Granger.”

“Professor,” Hermione was practically hyperventilating, “Kurt’s influence on me is merely social, it has neither hindered my academic progress nor been a contributing factor in my behaviour.”

“Hasn’t it?”

“Kurt,” Neville whispered carefully whilst the elder lady had her back turned, “Make a run for it while she’s distracted.”

“I heard that Mr Longbottom!”

“Look professor,” Kurt let out a shaky breath, “If anyone is to blame for whatever misunderstanding we may have, it’s me.”

“There is no misunderstanding Mr Hummel,” she spoke firmly and with authority, “You vandalised the great hall, for which you must be punished.”

“If you’re punishing Kurt, you’ll have to punish me too,” Finn said with a serious look that seemed out of place on his normally goofy face.

“No,” Kurt was firm, “other than the fact that I was the only one doing the moving of furniture, I am team captain and as such I must take full responsibility.”

“Twenty points from Slytherin,” Kurt didn’t even flinch at the harsh yet elegant words, “follow me to the headmaster’s office, the rest of you clean this up.”

“Why doesn’t he seem fazed by being sent to the headmaster’s office?” Padma asked in a cloud of confusion, “that’s seems like a big deal, especially for a first year.”

Kurt looked over his shoulder to see Finn smile before proclaiming his defence, “Kurt is too badass to be fazed by anything.”

Kurt took off at a tremendous speed, leaving Professor McGonagall in his wake. He reached the gilded gargoyle sometime before the elder professor, she did not seem pleased by this as he heard her screaming his name and her reprimanding proclamations.

They entered the now all too familiar office, “Professor Dumbledore,” McGonagall exclaimed in breathless sigh of relief, “This student has taken a turn for the worst within the last month and was caught red handed vandalising school grounds.”

“Gosh Minerva,” Professor Dumbledore exclaimed whilst adjusting his Phrygian cap, “This is the only time I get to do some Sudoku!”

“I’m aware of the importance of your wondrous Sudoku breaks,” she let out a tired breath, “I would think you’d make a concession when a model student is spiralling out of control just before they take to the international stage as a representative of this great school.”

Professor Dumbledore raised his head reluctantly but smiled at the sight of the small boy, “Kurt, what a pleasure it is to see you!” Kurt noted that his quill carried on working on the Sudoku, “How are you?”

“I’m well professor,” Kurt shot McGonagall a condescending smile, “Is that a new hat?”

“Yes, I got it in London,” he smiled proudly, “It’s Balenciaga! Minerva, you may leave us.”

She was flabbergasted, “but Albus-”

“Thank you Minerva.” He spoke firmly but without aggression, his voice remained soft but didn’t allow for any argument, “When I saw your muggle bag I knew that I must give shopping in the muggle world a chance, best decision I ever made. So, what brings you to my office?”

“Well, I’m in trouble… again,” Kurt let the words hang in the air for a moment, “I rearranged the furniture in the great hall so that we could have B.A.T. practice but then McGonagall arrived right in the middle of our practice and lost her mind, I guess that was the straw that broke the horses back.”

The elderly man seemed to be giving Kurt’s predicament a great deal of thought, “And Minerva is upset about the horse?”

Kurt was horrified by the thought of the most respected wizard not understanding the simple concept of a metaphor, “There horse is no horse!”

“Well, unfortunately she is right to be angry,” the man proceeded to stroke his long luxurious beard, “The school by-laws clearly list vandalism as an infraction for which repeat offenders may be suspended.”

“Professor, if I may?” the silver haired man ushered him along, “When I was first in your office you encouraged me to behave in a more carefree and youthful manner, I would even go so far as to say you encouraged me to rebel; now I’m in trouble for following the instruction I was given.”

“Fair enough,” Dumbledore smiled slyly, “I guess we can’t punish you for something you were told to do but you do still have to attend your detention with Hagrid tonight.”

“Say what now?” Kurt swam through his memory till he came back to Professor Flitwick reprimanding him and Neville yesterday, “Damn it! You're right.”

~0~

Kurt stood awkwardly in front of the impossibly tall man; Kurt noted that he needed to stop claiming that things were impossible, especially in the world he now lived in. Neville was trembling nervously next to him as Argus Filch dumped them in the care of the larger man.

“Rubeus Hagrid,” the giant man said in a thick West Country accent, “Keeper of Grounds and Keys at this here fine school. Call me Hagrid, everybody calls me Hagrid.”

“I’m Kurt Elizabeth Hummel,” Kurt smiled sweetly yet nervously at the huge man, “And this is my nervous friend Neville Longbottom.”

“Hi,” Neville’s voice was small and distant.

“So, we’ll be heading into that there forest,” the hairy man adjusted and loaded his crossbow, “Ready?”

“Entrance into the forest by a student is forbidden,” Neville exclaimed fearfully, Kurt couldn’t find it in him to call on the boy’s bravery.

“I’m with Neville on this one,” Kurt said, his voice went a little sharp on the first syllable, “I don’t choose to go there!”

Kurt took note that yet another one of his pop culture references had gone unnoticed, Kurt took due diligence avoiding the exposed roots as they navigated between the trees.

Hagrid stopped before a pool of metallic liquid, “Unicorn blood, there’s another injured one out there.”

“Did you just say unicorn?” Kurt couldn’t shake his excitement, “I know they’re real but I can’t help but get excited.”

“This one is hurt,” Kurt’s face dropped, “but it’s not hurt too badly judging by the size of this pool.”

“If there’s something out here that’s hurting unicorns,” Neville stuttered through, “How can you assure that we’re safe?”

“I didn’t assure anything.” The words made Kurt nervous, he wasn’t a fan of uncertainty and this was the ultimate form of ambiguity, “Let’s find this poor beast and help it.”

“Are we dealing with magical poachers?” Kurt asked cautiously, “Because in the muggle world poachers are considered extremely dangerous and should be dealt with a certain amount of attentiveness.”

“Not with unicorns, it’s wicked to slay something as pure as a unicorn,” Hagrid let out a staggered breath, “Their recent slayings means that we’re dealing with a particularly dark strand of magic.”

“Did he?” Neville shivered in fear.

Kurt could feel a chill rising from the base of his spine, “He just said dark magic before leading us into the Dark Forest,” Kurt took a deep steadying breath, “A man after my own heart.”

Hagrid led them into the forest; down through a thicket of snapped twigs and dishevelled shrubbery that had clearly seen an evidently been site to a severe conflict that had left the unicorn injured, Kurt had to turn away from the splatters of both crimson and metallic liquid that told tale of the savage nature of the encounter. Hagrid then changed directions as he picked up a clear set of hoof prints that were speckled with metallic liquid, the sight of it turned Kurt’s stomach and it took all he had not to lose his feeble diner at its sight. Kurt felt something of an odd texture beneath his feet, he stepped back only to be horrified by the sight of a severed trachea and a large metallic stain on the soft loamy soil. Kurt tried to hold his composure but the sound of Neville’s blood curdling scream broke the flood gates and started the chain of events that would follow. He puked his dinner behind a tree before taking off in the opposite direction from the screaming because after what he’d seen; no matter how much his heart might have wanted to save his friend from whatever trouble he’d encountered with Hagrid, his feet and instincts told him to run.

Kurt could see the treeline ahead and beyond it, Hagrid’s hut. He ran with unyielding gumption; Kurt wasn’t sure if the point of this detention was to scare him straight or if tonight’s set of events were nothing more than a mere coincidence but he wasn’t taking any chances in that forest with the dark magician who had performed the gory tracheotomy on the majestic beast. Kurt fell over one of the mangled bits of undergrowth; he was brought back to reality by the distant pained frail falsetto that hummed an almost familiar tune that he couldn’t quite put his figure on. Kurt was on high alert, forgetting about the gruesome atrocities he’d witnessed and choosing to focus on the tune that teased his memories. Kurt listened with precise intent for the origin as he took in his surroundings but could not put finger on the origin of divine song and then suddenly there amongst the remnants of snapped and crushed branches was a small bird.

Kurt cautiously bent closer to the bird but the small creature cowered away, Kurt wasn’t sure what kind of bird it was right off the bat but he knew that even magical birds had long migrated to the warmer south. ‘Why are you still here?’ Kurt asked himself as he reached out to the bird; it did not move other than physically flinching, he noticed it’s injured wing and withdrew his finger. ‘A nightingale,’ he thought which confused him further because . Kurt gave it a moment’s thought before approaching the situation as best he could, he held out his hand, “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby,” Kurt sang in a soft raspy soprano as he tried to urge the bird to come closer to him so he could help it.

As though by some greater force than nature, the small bird turned to him and let out a shrill whistle of the successive lines as it hopped closer to Kurt’s extended palm.

“Someday I'll wish upon a star, And wake up where the clouds are far behind me,” Kurt urged the small bird that shrilled along with him toward his extended hand, the bird hopped into his hand, “Where troubles melt like lemon drops, Away above the chimney tops, That's where you'll find me.”

Kurt examined the wing injury, he noted that it was a clean beak which would make repairing it exponentially easier.

“Kurt!?!” he heard a familiar voice call from deeper within the forest, “Kurt, This isn’t funny!”

“Neville!” Kurt noted that the delicate creature in his hand cowered at the sound of his full voice, he retrieved his wand from his cloak, “Ossa Fracta Reparo.”

The bird screeched in pain, his tail feathers turned a rust colour which startled Kurt into dropping the bird. He saw the bird glide and fly whilst singing happily with the feathers returning to their standard desert sand colour, Kurt had never considered that this was anything but a common nightingale but it seemed that magic was all around him.

“Neville, Hagrid,” Kurt called out for them as he exited the forest with the singing bird in tow, “Where are you guys?”

“There you are,” Hagrid gave Kurt a firm pat on the back, “You hightailed it out of there so quickly that I didn’t have time to see if you were alright.”

“I guess I have a bit of a weak stomach,” Kurt blushed at the thought of him being flawed in any sphere; he was not only regarded by others as being flawless but by himself, he was held at quite a high esteem for it and the thought of falling short turned Kurt a very bright shade of red. He looked to the taller man, “I didn’t know that couldn’t stand the sight of blood, it’s quite interesting the things you learn about yourself.”

“Who’s this?” Hagrid asked gesturing to the nightingale that had made itself comfortable on Kurt’s shoulder, “Hi there little fella.”

The bird chirped a happy response, flying an orbit around the large man’s head before poking at Neville who looked quite uncomfortable at that particular, “What is it?”

“He’s some kind of nightingale,” Kurt watched the bird playing happily with Neville’s hair, “a magical subspecies of sorts.”

“A Maua Nightingale; noted for their ability to change colour,” Hagrid seemed distressed by something, “But it won’t survive the winter out here.”

“It had a broken wing when I found it,” Kurt said realising that he may have saved this birds life, “I fixed it with a spell; he couldn’t fly before that.”

“Well, I guess you’ll be spending the winter with me then?” He spoke to the little bird who chirped a happy response.

“Let’s call him Pavarotti,” Neville said happily, “like the muggle singer.”

“Pavarotti is a tenor,” Kurt interjected, “This guy sings in soprano,” Kurt saw Neville’s face drop, “but it’s a smart choice of name.”

~0~

“Liz!” Finn screamed across the crowded courtyard, people turned to look at him as he sank deeper into himself out of sheer embarrassment, Hermione nudged him to respond but Kurt pretended not to know the painted boy, “Sup Kurt, Hermione.”

“Finn,” Kurt looked at the boy’s green and silver get up and matching face paint, “Why must this be life?”

“Today’s the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin quidditch match!” Finn said excitedly.

“And this is supposed to mean something to me?”

“I think Finn wants you to be excited because it’s sport,” Hermione smiled sweetly, “Kind of like they do for the soccer in the muggle world.”

“Come on your house is playing!” Finn said nudging Kurt for a response before resigning to the reality that Kurt simply wouldn’t take any interest in the matter, “Okay, come to the match with me and Cedric today so I can explain the game to you because then you’ll have the knowledge you need to watch me play.”

“You're playing quidditch?” Hermione seemed to be surprised.

“Finn’s always had a natural aptitude for sport,” Kurt stated in defence of his brother; she hadn’t seemed this shocked when she’d learned Harry was on the team, just because Finn wasn’t some magical urban legend didn’t make him any less capable, “Finn played rugby, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, polo and water polo at a semi-professional level, quidditch is just like polo but on brooms.”

“Yes, in that it’s nothing like polo.” Finn laughed at him, he was about to tussle Kurt’s hair but was stopped short by the glare of death.

“I don’t mean their identical,” Kurt rolled his eyes in frustration, “You know what? Whatever, I’m still not going to that stupid sports match.”

“What stupid sports match?” Cedric asked as he approached with a large group of older Hufflepuff students, “Woah, Finn, when I said people get into the match this is not what I meant.”

Finn looked down at his get up with confusion; their family, with the exception of Kurt, always dressed like this for sports matches. Kurt came to his brother’s defence, “This is totally the only way of supporting.”

“Yeah,” One of Cedric’s elder friends said with a laugh, “at the world cup, not at a school match.”

“I like it,” Hermione said with a shy smile, “it’s a show of true dedication to one’s craft.”

“So you guys joining us in the team box or what?” Cedric finally asked, the question was directed at the group but his gaze never left Kurt, “We get free nuts.”

“I was just telling Finn that I would rather set myself on fire than go watch that match,” Kurt said with a sweet smile that was out of place with the vicious words on his lips.

“Harry’s playing today,” Hermione said in an obvious attempt to change his mind.

“Oh,” Kurt said with false enthusiasm, “Well, that changes nothing.”

“What?” Hermione asked, her tone condescendingly sarcastic, “You're telling me that the youngest seeker in a century’s debut means nothing to you! I didn’t see that one coming.”

“Are you insinuating that Kurt has a superiority issue and that he can’t stand to see someone else do better than himself?” Finn asked, Kurt’s jaw dropped, he wanted to see what Hermione had to say.

“That’s not what I said,” She didn’t sound convincing, Kurt turned to from Kurt to Cedric to the stranger, none would meet his gaze.

“Oh no, we are not doing this again,” Kurt spoke firmly and without falter, he smiled to himself, “I see, well guess who’s going to the quidditch match? Yes, not me.”

“Oh, so that means I was right,” Hermione smirked at Finn, “there is no manipulating Kurt Hummel!”

“Oh come on Kurt,” Finn pouted like a kicked puppy, “I’ve tried everything to get you to go to the match; I used Cedric, sibling guilt, free nuts, exclusive access to the Hufflepuff box, emotional manipulation and nothing”

“And yet you never thought to ask me,” Kurt packed his books into his Burkin, “Good bye Finn, Hermione.”

Hermione got up and followed him toward the school building, “Cedric do something,” Finn whined, Cedric hung his hands up in defeat, “Kurt, please come with me to the quidditch match.”

“Make it worth my while,” Kurt smirked villainously, “I’m still pretty upset about you trying to manipulate me, I’m wounded, I’ll need monetary compensation.”

“You can have my allowance for the next two months,” Finn said with pained expression.

“Deal,” Kurt’s smirk grew wider, looking almost like the smile of a mad man, “and to think I only wanted one month’s allowance.”

“Okay now how much do you know about quidditch?” Finn asked as he hooked his arm over his smaller brother’s shoulders; Kurt resented Finn for always reminding that physically, he appeared to be much younger than him which juxtaposed the actual three weeks that separated them.

“We might have read a book about a few weeks ago when you mentioned that you might be playing,” Kurt could feel the nape of his neck turning scarlet.

“Or was it when we found out Harry was going to be seeker?” Hermione said in a tone that made Kurt uncomfortable, he stared daggers at her, “Or was it when we curios about what bubbled beneath the dark brooding demeanour of Cedric Diggory?”

“Hermione,” He scowled at his friend while he waited for the colour to clear from his cheeks, “remind me when you get boobs to punch you in them!”

Finn gave them a rundown of the rules anyway, Kurt’s guess was that he like the idea of having academic prowess over the rest of the group for a change. He told them about each of the positions and who out of the throng of taller teens filled that position, he then explained that he wanted to play keeper. When they finally arrive to the Hufflepuff team box there was not a nut in sight!

“What madness is this?” Kurt protested, “You invited us here under the ruse of there being nuts and I don’t smell any nuts roasting or otherwise.”

“What are you guys playing at?” Hermione demanded, “You don’t just promise us nuts and then don’t deliver!”

“Where are the curly cashews?” Kurt was practically breathing fire at this point.

“Calm down,” Cedric smiled, “Finn and the rest of the juniors will bring out refreshments in a moment.”

“Oh,” Kurt simmered down and took his seat in the tower box adjacent to the main staff tower. He wondered how many first years could say they’d had the pleasure of viewing the match from such a prime position, “Wait, Finn’s waiting on us?”

“No, he’s in charge of snacks,” Anthony Rickett, a stocky senior, said with a chuckle.

“He’s also a junior member of the team,” a lean boy Kurt didn’t know said as though it was the most obvious thing on the planet, “which means he’s paying his dues.”

Madam Hooch stepped onto the pitch and started the match, quidditch was much faster than he had expected, Finn had been right this was nothing like the leisurely days spent watching polo out at the country club. He cringed at the contact and horse-play on the pitch, he wasn’t sure comfortable with Finn playing such a rough sport thirty feet in the air.

“Are all your junior members allowed to bring guests?” Hermione asked with a knowing smirk, “or is Finn special?”

“Well,” one of the three girls present said with a giggle, “Cedric brought a girl last year, Cho Chang me thinks, but he technically wasn’t a junior.”

One of the other team members nudged her but she just smiled wickedly; Kurt was smiling on the outside and cringing on the inside, or was it the other way around. Kurt was distracted when Finn and company arrived with snacks and one of the players took a bludger to the head, this allowed him a moment to recompose himself.

Harry was yet to do anything other than hover over the field; the youngest seeker in a century didn’t seem too interested in seeking. He suddenly took off in pursuit of the barely visible golden snitch, Kurt could feel his inner house pride stirring; he hoped that his acquaintance would fail, did that make him a bad person? He watched as suddenly Harry’s broom started to jerk about as though trying to throw it’s rider off.

“Something or someone is messing with Harry’s broom,” Hermione whispered to him as he enjoyed his nuts, “We should do something.”

“We should alert the authorities,” Kurt said sarcastically, “Everyone can see it! It’s happening right in front of the entire staff; if there was anything to be done, someone would have done it by now.”

“Look at Snape,” she whispered to him, “He’s not blinking and his lips are moving, he’s obviously cursing the broom.”

“Or he’s counter cursing,” Kurt ran his eyes over the crowd, “Look, Professor McGonagall isn’t blinking either.”

“Really?” Hermione asked with a queer look on her face, “Professor McGonagall? The nicest old lady ever she can’t be against Harry, she isn’t evil.”

“Oh, and Snape is just because he’s head of Slytherin?” Kurt looked her in the eye and saw that she was withholding information from him, “Okay, say it is Snape,” Kurt paused for a moment, something in the depths of his gut told him it wasn’t, “what are we going to do about it?”

She seemed to give it a moment’s thought, Kurt gestured to his wrist to remind her that time was of the essence, “We’ll break his concentration.”

“How would you do that?” Kurt asked in monotone.

“You’re usually much more helpful,” Hermione said with a sneer, “Let’s go I’ll think of it on the way.”

They discreetly exited the box with a mumble of ‘powder room’. Kurt wasn’t sure if there was much they could do against an whichever advanced spell caster they were up against but in the name of camaraderie. They climbed up and down so many flights of stairs it made Kurt grateful that he kept up to date with his cardio routine.

“Have you thought about what you're going to do to ‘stop’ Professor Snape,” Kurt had actually taken to patronising Hermione at some point because he couldn’t find it in him to believe that Professor Snape would intentionally put a student in harm’s way.

“watch and be amazed,” she said with a pleased smile, “Lucarnum Inflamarae.”

“You’re setting the man on fire?” Kurt was shocked, that was a little extreme when fixing one quidditch match was the worst of your crimes, “Fire! You are on fire!” he screamed in a disguised voice.

There was a sudden commotion above their heads, whilst the adults above them worked to put out the flame, Kurt saw Harry regain his composure and take off after the golden snitch; things didn’t seem to be falling in Professor Snape’s favour, had he been trying to harm Harry? If so for what reason and to what avail?

Kurt and Hermione ran back to their seats, slipping back in unnoticed as everyone was on the edge of their seat; watching Harry riding his broom like a skate board. Suddenly, he fell over, Kurt and Hermione hurried to the edge to peer at their classmate as he pulled a face that Kurt couldn’t bear to look at without feeling like he would lose his breakfast.

“Your friend doesn’t look well,” one of the girls said with a crooked smile.

She was met by giggles, “Today just isn’t the youngest seeker of the century’s day.” Another giggled.

“there’s no need to be cruel,” Cedric said commanding the respect of the team.

Kurt pointed at each of them and shook his head, “This isn’t what Hufflepuff stands for.”

“Harry Potter has caught the golden snitch,” Kurt heard the commentator say, Hermione shook her head at the girls with sass that made Kurt proud, “Gryffindor wins.”

~0~

“Harry,” Hermione ran ahead of Kurt toward the boy who was standing with Hagrid and Ron, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine Hermione,” He didn’t sound convincing, it seemed like there was something he was hiding.

“You're a jolly lot better than I’d be if Snape had tried to kill me.” Ron sneered at Kurt.

“Why are you all so convinced that Professor Snape,” Kurt asked the group, he was met with silence, “Is it because he isn’t part of the Harry Potter fan club? Because then you’ve got to wake up and smell the roses, not everyone is always going to be fond of you but that doesn’t mean they’re out to get you.”

“Explain why the professor was trying to get past the three headed dog through the trapped door on Halloween?” Ron asked, “He even got himself bitten.”

“He let the troll in as a diversion.” Harry spoke clearly and without a doubt.

Hermione cringed in discomfort, “Why would anyone go near that monstrosity?”

“Hey,” Hagrid boomed, “Don’t be talking about my Fluffy that way.”

“That thing has a name?” Hermione looked to be turning green.

“That is just so adorbsmable!” Kurt squealed, “What? Adorbs and abominable, adorbsmable.”

“You're getting distracted,” Harry said firmly, “What’s behind that trapped door and why does Snape want it?”

“You guys haven’t got any business snooping about this matter,” Hagrid boomed putting an abrupt halt to all conversation, “That there is between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. I should not have said that.”

“Who’s Nicolas Flamel?” Hermione asked with confusion written all over her face.

“I should not have said that,” Hagrid scolded to himself, “Let’s go have some tea.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

Kurt was late, he was never late! He briskly navigated the maze of corridors and stairway with his trolley case in tow; he resented that he wasn’t allowed to use magic in the corridors or he’d have just bewitched his bags to levitate. He finally came to the courtyard before the gilded gargoyle to see his team members waiting for him.

“You're late Mr Hummel!” Professor Snape spoke in a more irritated than angry tone.

“Sorry,” he smile politely, “My bags were heavy.”

“What have you got in there?” Hermione was clearly flawed by the size of his bag, “It’s almost as large as you are.”

“Gosh Hermione,” Finn said with a flip of his hair in a falsetto that tended to crack too often, “We’re going to be gone eight days, that’s thirty-six outfits.”

“Aren’t we just hilarious,” Kurt smiled falsely at his brother before stomping on his foot, “It would thirty-two, Learn your multiples of four, but you have to factor in the condition and so it’s actually twenty-seven.”

“Why do you need twenty-seven outfits?” Neville asked confusion riddled on his face.

Kurt shot him a death stare that made him regret opening his mouth, “I need to have a clean uniform for each day and then I need a casual and formal option. I additionally need to have a couple completely stunning outfits in case of a special occasion.”

“I feel like I seriously under packed,” Padma said nervously.

Kurt smiled, “I know right?”

“I’m here,” Professor Dumbledore announced as he descended the spiral staircase, Fawkes in hand, “I’m here.”

“It’s about time,” Kurt whispered to Hermione who simply rolled her eyes in agreement.

“I heard that Mr Hummel,” Kurt was startled by not only the stern tone but also by the formal address; had he miss understood the nature of his relationship with the elder professor? He was under the impression that their pseudo friendship allowed for witty banter of this kind, “So you and your last season Prada ascot best behave. “Kurt let out a sigh of relief, he wasn’t in trouble; he needed to watch what he said, maybe this was a warning that certain things are only appropriate between the pair.“Gather round, hold on to your robes joke because it’s going to be one hell of a ride.”

The group stood near the headmaster; they looked at each other, nerves evident in their facial expressions, they weren’t sure what would follow. The headmaster released Fawkes and with spread of her ruby red wings she engulfed the group in flames; Kurt was blinded by a white light, he was overcome by an intense dizzy spell and felt a shooting pain as his insides churned. When Kurt felt the ground beneath his feet again it felt like it had been forever but he knew it hadn’t been that long. It took him a moment to recompose himself and for his vision to adjust to his now dimmer surroundings.

“I don’t ever want to do that ever again!” Neville proclaimed as he got up off the ground, he stood shakily for a moment before a declaration that he would be sick.

“Congratulations,” Professor Snape said monotonously as he handed Neville a brown paper bag, “You all successfully apparated for the first time, well almost all of you.”

For the first time Kurt noticed his surroundings they were standing in the middle of a quad that had a beautifully simplistic Japanese theme; it seemed to be fitting considering they were in Japan but it seemed ridiculously cartoonish the way it fit his every pop culture representation of the far east.

“Look at that skyline,” Padma exclaimed, the group turned to see the beautifully starlit skyline of Tokyo; that was what he’d expected when he’d heard the word ‘Tokyo’, boy did it live up to andsurpass his every expectation.

“That view sure beats the rolling hills of Scotland,” Kurt let slip with a small smile on his face.

“Konbanwa,” A firm falsetto said from behind the group, a tall blond girl with striking features stood before the group. Her beauty was juxtaposed by the burning determination in her eyes, “Welcome to Mahoutokoro School of Magic. My name is Quinn Fabray and I will be your group facilitator for the duration of your stay, if at any point you need something all you to do is ask.” She smiled sweetly but the fire in her eyes was not doused, “Please follow me, and please don’t worry about your luggage as it will be delivered to your rooms.”

Kurt watched as the elegant teenager took lengthy but slow paced strides through the imposing mahogany doors. The inside of the building seemed to be the opposite of the Hogwarts castle; it was modern where Hogwarts was medieval, bright where Hogwarts was dark, open plan where Hogwarts was closed off. Kurt liked this place based solely on appearance, he understood why it was rated number one in its respective class. The great hall was crowded but still appeared spacious due to the cocktail party set up; there were eleven year olds dressed in a variety of school uniforms littering the entire room.

Kurt drew in a deep breath, this adventure had just become real, “Now we mingle.” He mumbled under his breath as the group dispersed with teachers going one way, Finn and Padma gravitating toward the finger foods leaving Neville, Hermione and himself too nervous to move.

“Hi, I’m Brittany S. Pierce.” A taller blond girl said with an innocent smile and an American accent that wasn’t too strong, “I’m from the Salem Witch Institute.”

Kurt noted how rehearsed her introduction seem, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Kurt Elizabeth Hummel of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”He extended a friendly hand and an award winning smile.

“Hermione Granger, Charmed to make your acquaintance,” Brittany then turned to Neville who did not make a sound, only opening and closing his mouth.

“What’s his story?” Brittany looked frightened by the boy’s peculiar behaviour.

 “I think you make him nervous,” Hermione smiled before turning to shout in hushed tone, “Stop it Neville! You're embarrassing us!”

“Neville Christopher Admetus Longbottom!” Neville screamed causing the entire room to stop and look at their little posse.

“Nothing to see here!” A dark haired girl who seemed to be the only person in the world who was Kurt’s height exclaimed as she approached the group, “That was quite the display Admetus.”

“Like from the Naming of Cats?” Kurt asked, he was met with blank stared, “It’s a poem by T.S. Elliot, it’s in Cats, nothing?”

“Sorry,” Neville said not taking his eyes off Brittany, “You’re really pretty.”

Hermione let out a shrill laugh, Kurt got a metallic taste in his mouth as he ground his teeth. He chose to change the subject, turning to the dark haired girl in a blue A-line dress, “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

“Santana Lopez,” she said with a sinister smirk that seemed to be permanently plastered on her beautiful face, “But you can call me Aunty Snix.”

“You look amazing in your uniform,” Kurt said looking at how lovely she looked in her uniform; the fit was superb, the colour looked amazing on her skin tone and it made her eyes pop. He gestured to his own robes, “I wish I looked that good in my uniform.”

“I’m sorry but you’re carrying a ten thousand dollar Burkin bag,” She said ogling his bag, “you could be wearing a burlap sack and still look drop dead gorgeous!”

“Did she just say that your bag cost six thousand pounds?” Hermione was hyperventilating, “Is there a gold mine in there?”

“My parents are excessively rich,” Kurt smiled nonchalantly, “I’m very low maintenance.”

“Gather round,” a petite dark haired woman with a strikingly beautiful face spoke firmly, all the Mahoutokoro students in their kimono style uniforms immediately fell into a militant formation, “I am Headmistress of this institution, GeneralO-Ren Ishii, and I’d like to welcome you to The Basic Academic Tournament. Welcome.” She let the silence of surprise wash over the room before she smirked almost villainously, “Now off to bed, we have an early morning tomorrow.”

“But we got up like two hours,” Finn complained to nobody in particular.

“We left last night and travelled to the future,” Brittany announced with pride.

He and Hermione exchanged a confused look but chose not to delve into the details of time zones. Professor Snape gestured for the group to follow him and Quinn from across the room, they bid their new acquaintances farewell before scurrying after the aloof man. They were led down a corridor with large bay windows, it seemed you could see the majestic city from every part of the school. Kurt was momentarily confused when Quinn suddenly stopped in front of what appeared to be a pillar.

“Welcome to your suites. As marked; boys on the left, girls on the right.” She gestured to the doors on three of the sides of the pillar, “Your teacher’s room is in close proximity in order to maintain order if need be. I’m sure the rooms will be to your satisfaction goodnight.”

Kurt was in awe when they opened the door, there was an entire corridor going deep into the pillar, deeper than humanly possible but then again this wasn’t human ingenuity. His room was large and minimalistic without compromising on the five star quality of the very well decorated room, Kurt through himself and couldn’t help but fall asleep.

~0~

“Am I the only one who is totally in love with their room?” Kurt asked as he buttered his toast, “It’s almost as good as being back home.”

Finn chuckled to himself, “I wonder how Cedric will feel about being replaced with an inanimate object.”

“Oh, why are you in love with your room too?” Kurt sneered at his brother.

“Who’s in love with their room?” Brittany asked as she forced herself between the brothers, “Because I slept outside.”

“Brittany,” Padma lifted her head from her reading, “Why would you do that?”

“I couldn’t remember where I put my room,” she mumbled as she wolfed down her pancakes, “So I explored the future for most of the night before I tripped and fell in my own puke.”

“We didn’t need to know that,” Hermione said as she pushed her breakfast away with a scowl of discomfort.

“That was quite the eventful night,” Kurt giggled to himself, “Did you at least have fun exploring the future?”

“I’m just glad I wasn’t attacked by a group of cyborgs,” she smiled to herself and kept mumbling in an unintelligible language to an imaginary person.

As the group left behind the remnants of their breakfast and headed toward the great hall Brittany pulled Kurt and stared at him with a vacant expression, “Brittany, that look is kind of creeping me out. I’m not sure if this is appropriate behaviour in the Americas but we don’t condone the invasion of personal space in Great Britain, so if you be so k-”

Brittany spoke in a deep eerie whisper, her face remained blank and her pupils dilated, “In three in four you will have to choose between two, the one unchosen will be left standing.”

“Okay, is that a hint or are you psyching me out?” Kurt wasn’t sure what to make of the stranger who held him in place by a death grip on his shoulder, “Brittany, let me go.”

Her pupils returned to normal, she tilted her head and smiled broadly at him before pulling him into an intense hug before whispering a sincere apology and walking away. Kurt was left confused and scared; his gut told him that what he’d heard would have a significant impact on his future regardless of whether it was a hint, psycho out or a premonition. He juggled the thought as he took his seat in the audience.

“Welcome to session one of the first round of the theoretic quiz bowl of the three hundred and twenty-seventh bi-annual Basic Academic Tournament,” General O-Ren Ishii spoke clinically and with minimal facial movement, Kurt wondered if it was botox. He relished in that momentary distraction from the thought which had perched itself at the apex of his mind, “Each session will consist of three schools answering sixty questions in forty-five minutes; a session may be ended by the exhaustion of time, questions or a ten point lead. In the case of the later, the remaining questions will be awarded to the victorious team. The participants in the first session are Beauxbatons Academy from France, Brazillian Wizarding School and PuicitiaVirtus Academy from Saudi Arabia. Please take your places.”

“This pool would have simple to defeat,” Hermione whispered from the seat beside him, “All these schools are on equal academic footing in terms of the content of our curriculums, my research has lead me to believe that each studies general magic much like we do.”

“That’s lovely Hermione,” He didn’t so much as look at her, his mind had wondered back to what Brittany had said; she had really gotten into his head regardless of whether she had done it on purpose or not.

“Are you alright?” She had a look of concern on her face, “Nerves aren’t getting the best of you, are they? You’ll do phenomenally in spite of what the final outcome may be.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I’ve never seen you like this,” She laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Something’s got you bothered and what’s the point of a best friend if you can’t talk it out?”

“It’s something Brittany said,” he let out a shaky breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding.

“Funny, it doesn’t seem like her to psych out the competition,” Hermione chuckled, “Or be this good at it.”

“It didn’t seem like she was trying throw me off my game,” Kurt paused because he knew that what he’d say next would truly make him sound like he was for the knackers, “It seemed as though she had spoken unconsciously, as though in a trance of divinity.”

“Divinity?” She raised a quizzical brow, “honestly, Divinity is as legitimate a magical form as-”

“Unicorns are an equestrian species?”

“Well, that’s different…” she fell silent for a moment, “Okay, I’ll bite. What did she say?”

“She said,” He paused as he recited her statement in his mind to make sure he didn’t sound insane, “It was, ‘In three in four you will have to choose between two, the one unchosen will be left standing.’” Kurt listened to himself and even he thought he sounded crazy.

“Sounds like a math problem to me.”

“Finn,” Kurt shot daggers at his brother, “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s rude to eavesdrop?”

“Also,” Hermione interjected after staring the taller boy down, “Math problems have questions, and that was clearly a statement.”

Finn stuck his tongue out at the duo, “I don’t like you!” He exclaimed before turning to face the stage where the quiz bowl was on going.

“Hypothetically,” Hermione gritted her teeth as she spoke, “Let’s say that this could possibly be a true act of divination, what does it mean?”

“I can’t imagine it could relate to any aspect of my life other than possibly a particularly difficult shopping trip.”

“I doubt that the universe of mystical and divine beings would intervene in a shopping trip, no matter how arduous.”

General O-Ren Ishii’s voice disturbed their conversation, “The ten point lead of PuicitiaVirtus Academy marks the end of the first session of the first round of the theoretic quizbowl ten minutes under time.” The corners of her mouth turned up but Kurt wouldn’t have quite called it a smile, “Point standing; Beauxbatons has fifteen points, Brazilian Wiz has five points and pulling ahead is PuicitiaVirtus with fourty points as they were awarded the balance questions as a bonus.” There was a round of applause, as she had announced the scores the had reflected on the score board behind her, “Session two commences in ten minutes. The participating teams are Mahoutokoro from Japan, Salem Witches Institute from the United States of America and The Wu-Xing School of Magical Exploration from China.”

Kurt looked to Hermione for the information breakdown on each of the schools, “I’ve explained the inner workings of Mahoutokoro, Wu-Xing is quite similar but they are obviously based on the Chinese belief system of Wu-Xing as opposed to the Japanese Godai but the similarities are uncanny. Salem Witches Institute on the other hand practices Wiccan magic which draws its additional power from nature but ultimately works like our magic, the difference being that they channel their magic through nature where we use wands to channel our magic.”

“I spend one day in hospital and you get ahead on your reading,” Kurt smiled at his overachieving friend, he was so glad to have her in his life.

“I also didn’t have the supplementary stress of being captain,” She nudged his shoulder, “So I had more time to gather knowledge I knew you’d need when push came to shove.”

“That’s what best nerd friends are for,” He smiled at her, they made light chatter that was disrupted not by the sound of General O-Ren Ishii’s voice but rather the abrupt sounding of a bell.

“All the questions have been exhausted and this draws an end to the second session of the first round of the theoretic quiz bowl five minutes under time.” She spoke regimentally and without a single flaw, “the point standing is a follows; Mahoutokoro has twenty-two points, Wu-Xing is the group victor with twenty-four points and finally Salem Witch has fourteen. The third session is scheduled to proceed imminently, the participating schools are; the Bermuda Marine School of Aquatic Magic, Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft from the United Kingdom and the Abafileo School of Ancestral Magic from South Africa.”

Kurt rose slowly and made his way to the stage; it was time for him to cast aside what Brittany had said to him and concentrate on what was clearly the weak cog in their well-oiled machine- magical theory.

The first few questions were about Herbology; Neville and Hermione managed to buzz for three and himself for the one on devil snare, a killer weed that thrived in darkness. It seemed as though time was lagging now that it was their turn unlike the way it flew before. The next set had been on potions; a field that seemed to be Abafileo’s speciality as they answered every question, and correctly at that. Twenty-four questions in and they were falling far behind; the subject turned to charms. Kurt took the opportunity to kick his mind into gear, buzzing on every question; he managed to answer five of the twelve, his fingers just weren’t fast enough for the other seven. Natural transfiguration was apparently very different from the way they practiced it and as a result they managed to answer two questions, with Bermuda Marine dominating the rest. As they opened the last category, Dark Arts, Kurt and Padma were in their comfort zone once more but only two questions in they were out of time.

“The time allocated has been exhausted and this draws an end to the third session of the first round of the theoretical quiz bowl on time.” Kurt was sure that General O-Ren Ishii had either planned for all the events of the day thoroughly or she was a robot, “The point standing is as follows; Bermuda Marine has seventeen points, Hogwarts twelve points and Abafileo are at the top of the group with twenty-one points; ten points were lost this round.”

Kurt hung his head in shame as the exited the stage, “we need to work smarter in the subsequent rounds if we don’t want to suffer through this embarrassment.”

“The fourth and final session is scheduled to proceed imminently, the participating schools are; Durmstrang Institute from Norway, Heliopolis School for the Enlightened from Egypt and Aconcagua School of Superior Magic from Argentina.”

Kurt could have sworn he’d seen General O-Ren Ishii grin as she called out the name final school. Kurt was so wrapped up in the short comings of his own team that he’d practically blinked away the entire final session. He lifted his head from the fog of shame when General O-Ren Ishii’s voice pierced through.

“The ten point lead of Aconcagua marks the end of the final session of the first round of the theoretic quiz bowl three minutes under time.” Kurt was getting tired of hearing her repetitive and monotonous drone at the end of every round but alas, “The point standing is as follows; Durmstrang has seventeen points, Heliopolis has fifteen points and at the top of this group is Aconcagua with twenty-eight points as they were awarded the balance questions as a bonus.”

The was light applause, “This marks the end of the first round of the theoretic quiz bowl,” General O-Ren Ishii paused for dramatic effect, “Positions are as follows; PuicitiaVirtus is in first position, then Aconcagua, Wu-Xing, Mohoutokoro, Abafileo, Bermuda Marine tied sixth with Durmstrang, Heliopolis, Beauxbaton, Salem Witch, Hogwarts and Brazil Wiz. First round of duels will commence at fourteen hundred hours, dismissed.”

As their group dispersed Professor Snape approached in a fuming rage, “What was that? If we wanted the fine name of Hogwarts besmirched we would have put the likes of Potter, Crabbe and Weasley on the team!” He looked each of them in the eye before carrying on with his intimidating rant, “You best get into gear in the next round or so help me I will do more than just give you detention, do you hear me?”

“Yes Professor Snape.” They sung in unison, they were on their toes and rattled with fear.

“Professor Snape is right,” Kurt paused and took in a shaky breath, “Next round the panties come off!”

“I think you mean gloves,” Padma said with a giggle.

“No,” Neville spoke with a dead seriousness, “Kurt always means what he says.”

Padma looked shocked and simultaneously mortified by what Kurt had said, “What’s wrong with her?” Brittany asked slotting herself into the group.

“Don’t mind her,” Hermione said with pout of her lips, “She’s new.”

Brittany nodded slowly, “I don’t know what that means.” A silence washed over the group, the preteens looked at one another as though searching for the answer in the faces of their peers but to no avail.

“Nobody knows.” Finn said breaking the silence.

~0~

General O-Ren Ishii stood at the podium for a moment as the groups settled into their assigned seats in the modern duelling arena, “Welcome to the first round of the duelling tournament of the three hundred and twenty-seventh bi-annual Basic Academic Tournament,” She smile briefly at the audience before her face turned to stone once more, “One at a time in alphabetical order, the representatives of each school will come up and face a representative of International Duelling Counsel who will be on the defensive. You will be scored on three criteria, each out of ten; style which includes the creativity of spell use, discipline which includes how long you took defeat an all-defensive partner and the adherence to the rules, and finally execution which is your ability to use spell and the difficulty of spells used. Each criterion has its own judge from the counsel; White Lotus Grand Master Iroh of China will judge style, White Lotus Master Pakku of the North Pole will judge discipline and White Lotus Master King Bumi of the United Arab Emirates will judge execution. We are quite fortunate to have three masters of The Order of the White Lotus in our midst and honoured to have them judging our duelling and practical tounements.Abafileo School of Ancestral Magic will be represented by NjabuloGoba.”

The short plump dark skinned boy waddled on to the platform. He pulled out a curved wand that appeared to be made of bone, a tibia from the looks of it, he bowed and a assumed a rigid fighting stance. He then proceeded to fire a number of earth based spells with little effect and little creativity or difficulty. The duel drew to a gradual and lacklustre end.

“Abafileo has scored eighteen points,” General O-Ren Ishii paused, “Aconcagua School of Superior Magic will be represented by Mario Hernández.”

And so the monotony of watching amateur duellists began, Kurt didn’t pay much attention until a name he recognized only moments later, “Beauxbaton Academy will be represented by Santana Lopez.”

Santana strode up onto the platform with an obviously arrogant swagger in her step; she pulled out a normal looking dark wood wand and bowed with attitude. She took an offensive stance- fist up like a boxer. Her manner was aggressive and imposing, her element of choice appeared to be fire and within no time she had defeated the man with the use of the fiend fire curse.

“Beauxbaton has scored twenty-twoafter receiving a penalty of five points which was imposed for the use of a dark curse.”

Kurt racked his brain running through all the spells he had in his arsenal and assessing their dark nature, he was mostly in the clear. He was suddenly ripped from his thoughts by a nudge on his shoulder, “they’ve called your name Kurt!” Neville stage whispered.

Kurt stood on shaky legs and looked about the room before waltzing defiantly toward the platform, he took a deep breath and pulled out his perfectly cylindrical alabaster white wand. Kurt curtsied to his partner before assuming Croisé Devant as his stance.

As soon as he was in the green, he spoke the words that would redeem his team from the shame of the quiz bowl, “fulgur percusserit.” Kurt closed his eyes and allowed himself to feel the room as a nitric smell filled the air and the clap of thunder shook the room; a flash of blue lightning descended from the sky, it entered the wand of he who had summon it and danced in his body as he redirected it towards his opposition. When Kurt opened his eyes, his opponent stood singed by the lightning for a moment before falling over in defeat. The judges did not move for a moment, Kurt assumed they were still trying to process what they had just witnessed.

“Hogwarts has scored twenty-eight after receiving a penalty of two points which was imposed for an improper bow.”

General O-Ren Ishii looked just as shocked as Kurt felt; the judges had deducted two points from his perfect score because he hadn’t bowed properly? That was an absurdity. Kurt saw red and had ringing in his ears; he barely noticed when Mahoutokoro’s duellist had actually lost to a defensive opponent. He was only pulled out of his pit of rage at the sound of the final school being called.

“Salem Witch Institute will be represented by Jesse St. James.”

He was disappointed that it hadn’t been Brittany's name she’d called but the boy who went up was kind of cute. Kurt watched as the boy delivered a performance second only to his own.

“Salem Witch has scored twenty-four points.” General O-Ren Ishii paused for applause, “This marks the end of the first round of the duelling tournament. The ladder stands with; PuicitiaVirtus still in first place then, Aconcagua, Hogwarts, Abafileo, Salem Witch and Wu-Xing are tied at fifth place, Beauxbaton, Bermuda Marine and Durmstrang tied at eighth place, Mahoutokoro, Brazil Wiz and Heliopolis. The first round of the practical challenges will commence at ten hundred hours, dismissed.”

~0~

Kurt’s had anger bubbled for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, he sat at dinner mumbling about how the world worked to punish brilliance and reward mediocrity.

“Kurt, right?” he raised his head to see Grand Master Iroh of The Order of the White Lotus standing before him, he had read of the Order and was in awe of the man.

“Yes,” He stood and shook the man’s hand vigorously, “Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, it’s a pleasure to meet you Grand Master Iroh.”

Kurt bowed; heck, he all but kissed the man’s feet. It was this man’s writings that he had learnt most of his duelling skills and also whom he had modelled his lightning spell after.

“I see you’ve been practicing your bowing,” the man said with a hearty chuckle and in that moment Kurt forgot who the man was and started him down, “Too soon?”

“Too soon.”

“I was truly blown away by your performance,” the man smiled, “And if you carry on performing at that calibre I see a summer training under me in your not too distant future.”

“But you don’t take students under the age of fifteen,” Kurt stuttered in awe of the offer he’d been presented by a living magical legend.

“I thought I made the rules of whom I chose to teach.”

“What am I saying?” Kurt was shaking with excitement, “Don’t mind me.”

“That is usually because most students haven’t matured their practical application of magic sufficiently before that,” He placed a hand on Kurt’s shoulder that seemed to extinguish every lit nerve in his body, “You have greatness in your destiny, work toward it.”

“I really appreciate that,” Kurt pursed his lips, “I will work meticulously and diligently to show you that you haven’t made a mistake by putting your faith in me.”

“My tea is chilling,” he turned to his group of friends and smiled at them, “Thank you for lending me this young man for a moment, enjoy the rest of your evening.”

“Why am I not surprised that the brightest wizard in our year is going to be the youngest person ever to train under a White Lotus Master?” Hermione grinned broadly, “I don’t think I could be more proud of you!”

“It’s not even a sure thing yet,” he couldn’t stop himself from bouncing in excitement no matter how he tried to soothe himself.

“Kurt,” Neville looked at him with a look of bewilderment, “When will you realise that everything you touch turns to gold?”

“You moved us from tenth to third with a single flip of that mysterious wand,” Padma spoke sternly.

“Okay,” Kurt shook the giggles and looked serious, “Enough of that, now we need to move from third to first.”

“Or we could just take it as it comes,” Finn whined, “I’m tired! Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to be tall?”

“Really?” Hermione raised a baffled brow, “You’re tired because you're tall?”

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

“I’m about to break your neck,” She spoke in a blunt tone before growling at the taller boy.

“Why is she growling?” Brittany asked as she approached the group with Santana and the boy from the duelling tournament, Jesse, in tow.

“Indigestion,” Neville retorted with a giggle.

“Hmm,” She seemed to give it a moment’s thought before turning her attention to Kurt, “Tell me Kurt, where did you learn that spell?”

“It’s a personal modification of a blue lightning weather spell,” Kurt spoke nonchalantly before redirecting the conversation to the stranger amongst them, “You performed phenomenally, are you trained in martial arts? The fluidity of your movement wasincomparable to anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Tai-Kwan-Do since I was five.” He answered proudly and with an air of arrogance.

Kurt knew just what to do because this boy’s head was way too big, “An exceptional performance that is truly fitting of second place.”

The each smiled falsely at each other before Finn ruined the moment, “Well, this pissing contest isn’t awkward for the rest of us at all.”

~0~

“Welcome to the first round of the practical challenges of the three hundred and twenty-seventh bi-annual Basic Academic Tournament,” this time General O-Ren Ishii didn’t bother trying to smile, she remained stone-faced, “The first challenge is potion making. All teams will work concurrently; each team will have two members working on the potion andyou will be allocated thirty minutes in which to work. Ten points will be allocated for each of the three criterion; discipline which includes time and cleanliness, execution which is the assessment of how well the potion works, and the difficulty of the chosen brew. You have five minutes to discuss this before we begin.”

The group huddled about their station, “I think we should pick a difficult potion and earn extra points by managing to brew it,” Hermione spoke with a smile in her voice, “That will set us apart from the competition.”

“Like what?” Kurt demanded before the answer came to him, “the girding potion Professor Snape showed us during our sixth practice session.”

“Excellent idea Kurt,” Hermione exclaimed, “it’s a third year level potion plus Padma and Finn almost managed a reasonable brew of that one.”

“We can’t pull it off,” Padma had her hands raised in disapproval of the idea.

“It’ll be the second time we’re doing it,” Finn said wrapping an arm around her shoulder, “We’ll kill it.”

“Neville,” spoke after thinking the idea over, “What do you think, you’ve been awfully quiet.”

“Well, I know not to comment on thing I know nothing of,” there was a snarky undertone to his statement that made Kurt giggle, “Why don’t you ask Professor Snape if it’s a good idea?”

“You are brilliant!” Hermione exclaimed a bit too loudly, the room turned its attention to the group, “Don’t look at us, you don’t know us like that.”

“Your influence on her scares me,” Finn said with a nudge of Kurt’s shoulder and a silly lopsided grin.

Kurt shot daggers at the boy, “you know what? I don’t appreciate what you're insinuating about my relationship with Hermione. I don’t influence her to do anything; she’s grown and makes her decisions without any help from me.”

“Look,” Finn chuckled, “I don’t mean it like that.”

“No, you look.” Kurt was fuming at this point, “You might not realise what the underlying connotations of what you're saying are. Maybe you keep your head firmly stuck in the clouds and you don’t hear what people are whispering on the ground.”

“Oh, come on Kurt,” His facial expression was caught between a smile and a grimace, “you know better than to listen to the whispers.”

“It’s pretty darn hard when it’s an attack on your character,” He let out a shaky breath, “this isn’t just trivial playground teasing, people have mentally paralleled me to the magical equivalent of the anti-Christ. Then you have the nerve to make fun of my supposed influence?”

“You know I didn’t mean it that way.”

“You’re supposed to be my brother,” Kurt paused for a moment, “You’re supposed to know better.”

Kurt turned on his heels and stormed off, he listened to neither the calls after him nor to the sound of General O-Ren Ishii’s voice calling them to assembly. Hermione and Neville who weren’t participating followed after him, “Leave me alone, I’d just like one moment to be able to feel hurt and betrayal.”

“But Kurt listen-”

“No,” he stopped and turned toward them, “I don’t need your sympathy. You don’t know the first thing about this. When people are afraid of you, then you can tell me to wait. When you have some mysterious wand that hasn’t worked for any one in more than a thousand years that is believed to have a dark past, then you can tell me to wait. When you're afraid of your susceptibility to dark magic because you don’t know who you are or your family’s history with magic, then you can tell me to wait. When you can empathise because you know my story and you understand by life, then you can tell me to wait.”

Kurt stormed off once more without waiting for a response. He entered his room and shut the door, he laid his head on the painted wood and let all of his troubles come to the surface for the first time. He thought of a simpler time when he was just a boy; before cancer, before death, before mourning, before growing up, before healing, before moving, before Finn, Before Carole, before magic and before friendship; a time when men were men and the world a mystery, a time when butterflies were as close as he got to magic and kisses weren’t fleeting, a time when his actions didn’t mean anything and the meaning of life, the universe and everything was forty-two as opposed to the square root rainbows.

Everybody has their demons, Kurt knew this, but few peoples have to face demons that look just like them. Kurt also had the misfortune of having his weaknesses out in the open for all to see; he was tired of being cold and using a façade to shield himself from the world. He just wanted to be a child about it.

Kurt laid face down on the lush double be, grabbed the receiver and dialled a number he’d never dialled before but had always known.

“Hello,” a merry voice chimmed on the other end of the phone, “Hudson-Hummel Residence.”

“Can I talk to dad?” Kurt didn’t even try adjust his position for better audibility.

“Please hold for a moment sweetheart,” she said before screaming “Burt!” across the house.

“I got it!” Kurt heard through the headset, “Burt, Hello.”

“Hi dad,” Kurt was transparent with his emotions for a change.

“Hey,” He spoke in a soft soothing voice that understood, “How’s daddy’s little ballerina?”

“Oh, daddy,” Kurt was quite for a moment before, this was a competition and the first person to speak lost. Kurt bit his tongue before breaking, “I lied; this world is terrible! Everybody hates me, and I don’t mean like they did back in primary school, they actually think I’m pure evil. I apparently look just like the magical counterpart of Hitler and my stellar aptitude for magic doesn’t help.”

“Oh, baby.”

“I just want to come home!” Kurt announced with a sob.

“If that’s what you want,” his father let out a sigh, “I was under the impression that you enjoyed studying magic.”

“I do.”

“And what about your friends Hermione and Neville and that one with the scar-”

“Harry,” Kurt smiled at his father’s forgetful nature.

“And your roommate Gregory,” His father paused, “Do they hate you?”

“No…”

“And as for this magic Hitler.”

“Voldemort.”

“What kind of a name is Voldemort?” He heard his father chuckled and Kurt felt a tugging in his chest, “You two could be identical twins for all I care, heck even if he’s your father; he doesn’t have half the stuff you’ve got going for you. You're kind, caring and compassionate; nobody in all their evil can take that away from you and you remember that!”

“I do,” He paused for a moment, “I will.”

“Now,” his father sighed out his anger, “you want to come home, you say?”

“Now that you’ve put it that way…” Kurt let out a strained giggle, “I’m not a quitter; it’s not in my nature.”

“So do you want to tell me about this Cedric boy?” His father chuckled heartily.

“I don’t know who you're talking about,” Kurt had turned bright, “But hypothetically, what has Finn said?”

“Oh, Finn didn’t say anything,” he made Kurt smile with another chuckle, “I’ve got to go; cars aren’t going to restore themselves.”

“Yes, Eugene and Kit do that.”

“Don’t get fresh with me, I can ground you all the way in Tokyo!” Kurt could hear his dad’s smile, it made him smile, “how is that anyway?”

“Okay,” Kurt got that smirk of self-pride on his face, “I had the highest score in the first duelling round.”

“And you wanted to give that all up for, what is it you kids call them?” Kurt could hear his father’s cap moving back and forth on his head, “Haters.”

“I even got offered an opportunity to study under one of the most renowned duellists of all time,” He knew that he was boasting but he liked making his father proud, “Should I choose to accept I would be the youngest wizard ever to train under a Master of The Order of the White Lotus, let alone a Grand Master.”

“I’m proud of you,” his father was silent for a moment, “I’d be proud of you regardless of what you did, you're my little boy, I just want you to be happy.”

“Generally, I am. It’s just what Finn said really got under my skin.”

“Finn did this to you?” his father’s voice was heated, “what did he say?”

“Nothing,” Kurt knew he had to be honest with his father but he didn’t want to get Finn in trouble with their parents for ‘picking on him’, “he made a comment on how my friend’s similarities to me were a result of my influence on her as if it were some kind of dark force?”

“You do have a way of making people live up to your expectations of them,” Kurt should have known better than to expect his father to take his side, “I’m not condoning his behaviour but you need to be aware that when you have a great presence and with that comes influence; intentional or otherwise.”

“Hmm,” Kurt said turning up his nose and wiggling his left brow.

“Oh, come on ballerina boy,” Kurt could hear his father slumping, “I’m not taking sides so don’t waggle that brow at me.”

“Maybe that’s the problem.”

“Ballerina boy,” his father sang in a raspy off pitch voice.

“Desecrating Lionel Richie won’t help you this time!” Kurt was firm.

“You know daddy loves you,” Kurt loved how he could associate his father’s body language with his tone of voice, “And if you were hear id tickle you with my stubble.” Kurt froze, his eyes opened wide, “Okay, I just realised how creepy that was when I said it. Let’s not speak of it again.”

Kurt guffawed at his father’s awkward nature, “Love you too dad.” Kurt was silent for a moment and he knew that all was right with the world again, “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got adoring fans that need my guidance.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Okay,” Kurt spoke to the team as they entered the great hall for round two of the quizbowl, “so thanks to excellent work on the part of Finn and Padma we scored twenty-six points in the practical round, which catapulted us into second place and made us one of the eight teams that get to move on to today’s rounds.”

“Okay guys,” Hermione spoke assertively, after careful review Kurt knew that he would be proud to know that it was his influence that had made Hermione a strong and intelligent young woman, “We need to answer every question, even if we don’t know the answer because there isn’t a penalty for incorrect answers and the other team can’t get the points.”

“That is villainously brilliant!” Neville exclaimed with a look of pure awe on his face.

“I’m proud to call you my own,” Kurt said wiping away imaginary tears, he knew the rest of the team was walking on eggshells around him after what happened yesterday. He still hadn’t spoken to Finn about the matter and he knew that his silence would be the power that he’d use to push Finn to give today his all, “So we’re going to go in there, burn cities and slit throats.”

They all looked at him with eyes the size of saucers, “Too dark?” they all nodded in agreement. “Good thing I didn’t go with the pillage and rape the woman, which would have just made things awkward.”

“True that,” Neville said with a chuckle and a slap on the back, “true that.”

“You’re mighty chipper today,” Kurt said looking analytically at his friend, “What is this? I don’t like it.”

“I got a note from my gran” Neville seemed pleased with himself, “she said I should keep making her proud which means that made her proud!”

“Good for you,” Hermione smiled and tilted her head,“You do realise that now we’ve got to win now! We now actually have to slit throats.”

“What other way would we have it?” Finn asked with a slight edge of sass, he knew how that made Kurt feel like they were on some level similar as brothers are.

“Welcome to session one of the second round of the theoretic quiz bowl of the three hundred and twenty-seventh bi-annual Basic Academic Tournament,” General O-Ren Ishii spoke clinically and with minimal facial movement which seemed to be her standard tone, “Each session will consist of four schools answering one hundred and twenty questions in ninety minutes; a session may be ended by the exhaustion of time or questions, the ten point lead no longer applies. The teams participating in the second round are; PuicitiaVirtus, Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, Salem Witch Institute, The Wu-Xing School of Magical Exploration, Beauxbaton Academy, Mahoutkoro School of Magic, Abafileo School of Ancestral Magic, Durmstrang Institute and guess who isn’t continuing, Aconcagua School of Superior Magic because they got disqualified from the practical challenge for cheating.” She guffawed deeply and slightly villainously, which was unsettling but suited her so much, before recomposing herself; “The participants in the first session are Beauxbaton, Salem Witch, Durmstrang and Mahoutokoro. Please take your places.”

“Am I the only one who thought that bit about Aconcagua was totally uncalled for?” Padma whispered to the group.

“I thought it was hilarious,” Kurt said thinking back on the moment and laughing once more, “The world is a beautiful place.”

Finn shot him a look that told Kurt that the part he was playing was having the desired effect; sure he was manipulating which was in some way perpetuating the whole ‘evil’ thing but he knew well enough that people would talk regardless of what he did so he might as well have fun with it.

He watched as Brittany and a particularly persistent boy from Mahoutokoro went head to head with everyone else struggling to be seen. Kurt noted that pair seemed almost equally matched which would result in a close score.

It seemed to end too soon. That made Kurt feel nervous as now the onus was on them to perform, he had never been one to partake in things he wasn’t good at but his commitment to the team and his responsibility to his school outweighed whatever desire he had to run for the hill with his tail between his legs. He watched as General O-Ren Ishii approached the podium with nervousness; counting all seven of her short steps to calm himself.

“All the questions have been exhausted and this draws an end to the first session of the second round of the theoretic quiz bowl fifteen minutes under time.” She spoke with a regiment that Kurt had come to expect from the militant female, “the point standing is a follows; Durmstrang has twenty-four points, Mahoukotorois the group victor with thirty-eight points, Salem Witch has thirty-seven points and finally Beauxbaton has twenty-one points. The second session is scheduled to proceed in ten minutes, the participating schools are; the Hogwarts,Abafileo, Wu-Xing and PuicitiaVirtus. Please take your places.”

Kurt felt dizzy as he rose from his seat; he couldn’t afford anything short of putting his best foot forward because he was at the mercy of the universe at a time when failure wasn’t an option; for a moment he couldn’t remember which his best foot was. Kurt took his seat before a sea of wizarding authoritative figures, his peers and competitor whom he’d worked to defeat; he struggled to find comfort or an ease of mind in his current position but knew well that anything short of his best would dishonour the memory of his mother who’d laid her life down for his. Kurt sat up straight and put on the show he had mastered; he wore confidence like his favourite boots, with an air of superiority and grace.

“Which migratory magical species is noted for their ability to mimic music and change colour in accordance to their mood?”

Kurt was pleasantly surprised by the first question; it was something he knew but hadn’t studied but rather he had picked up along the way, “The MauaNightingale.”

Kurt felt all his fears and insecurities move to the back of his head; not gone but rather set aside to rise at a later stage. The line of questioning began reasonably well but soon took a turn for the tumultuous as they progressed causing the band of British scholars a fair share of intellectual distress as they worked not only for their own success but also to undermine the other teams in their bid for first place.

It seemed like they hadn’t done enough when the time bell sounded and General O-Ren Ishii took to the podium; Kurt thought of all the knowledge he’d gathered but simply hadn’t been afforded the chance to be shared and may potentially never get the chance to be showcased to the world. Kurt took a moment of silence to weep for his wasted genius, his disappointment of his mother and the shame he’d brought on himself.

The time allocated has been exhausted and this draws an end to the Second round of the theoretical quiz bowl on time.” Kurt kept face but didn’t have it in him to scrutinize the mannerisms of General O-Ren Ishii, he focused of formulating a strategy for his forth coming duel, “The point standing is as follows; Hogwarts have twenty-nine points, Abafileohas twenty-five points, Wu-Xing have thirty points and PuicitiaVirtusare at the top of the group with thirty-one points; four points were lost this round.”

“We kept the others on their toes,” Neville smiled with triumph, “We’re only nine points behind the current leaders and we’ll easily make that up in the duel and practical.”

Kurt’s face remained unchanged as his mind wondered through all the spells he had in his arsenal for the duel but none seemed to have the pizazz of his lightning spell.

“Kurt,” Hermione’s voice was pleading, she was walking on eggshells and it frustrated him. He chose not to show his frustration but rather to keep his features schooled; “how did you feel about that round, we need you as team captain to gauge our success because we’re all pleased with the result.”

“We managed to narrow the margin between ourselves and the group leaders,” Padma added in a tone that showed that she had no desire to entertain whatever imaginary temper tantrum he was supposedly throwing.

“Padma is correct,” he paused and hoped his peers realised that he wasn’t holding on to the events of the previous day, “Our performance has been satisfactory and we have achieved the goal we had going into this round of questioning.”

“The Teams progressing to the final round of the theoretical quiz bowl are; Mohoutokoro and Salem Witch.” General O-Ren Ishii seemed pleased to see that her own school would be proceeding to the finals, “The second round of the duelling tournament will commence at fourteen hundred hours, dismissed.”

Kurt was up and out of the room before the rest of the group had a chance to engage him. He found himself a secluded spot where he sat looking out over the city, he took in a lungful of air but his discontent did not subside but instead mocked him. He leaned on the pillar and cast out the pressure of being captain, of being an ambassador for his school, proving his worthiness as a potential white lotus scholar and upholding the legacy of excellence set by his mother; Kurt exhaled all that was weighing on him away. For a moment there was nothing and all seemed perfect; he saw the view for its beauty. Kurt took in another slow deep breath as he reloaded and balance his weights, going forward as the beast of burden he’d always been. Kurt rose from the floor and relished in the peace of loneliness.

~0~

“Kurt,” Hermione looked quite displeased as he approached the designated seating for their group, “You just disappeared on us, and you even missed lunch. I brought you a pretzel to tide you over till supper time.”

Kurt felt himself warmed, “I needed a personal moment.”

“You're on,” Neville said with an assuring smile, “this is your round and nobody can take that away from you.”

“Thanks guys,” Kurt had taken the time to reflect on his abilities and had been able to identify a strategy that would follow his opening act well; he had regained his confidence and climbed out of his own head.

“Welcome to the Second round of the duelling tournament of the three hundred and twenty-seventh bi-annual Basic Academic Tournament,” Her face was stony as she spoke, “One at a time in descending order based on your first round scores, the representatives of each school will come up and face a representative of International Duelling Counsel who will be on the defensive. You will be scored on the same three criteria, each out of ten; style, discipline and execution. Each criterion has its own judge from the counsel; White Lotus Grand Master Iroh of China will judge style, White Lotus Master Pakku of the North Pole will judge discipline and White Lotus Master King Bumi of the United Arab Emirates will judge execution; First up are Hogwarts who will be represented by Kurt Hummel.”

Kurt took in a deep breath and waltzed to starting position, he delivered a dramatically exaggerated bow to appease the judges; Kurt took his favoured Croisé Devant starting pose. His mind was cleared of all the burdens he carried barring one- success in this duelling tournament- and it would remain till he emerged victorious. Alongside it he played out his strategy and all the possible outcomes, he admitted to himself that he had devised a truly brilliant strategy that took into account any possible situation but his mind would not rest.

A soon as they were signalled to begin Kurt’s tongue worked at such speed, “Verdimillious.” The man was stung by the red sparks that shot forcefully out of Kurt’s wand and fell to his knees, “Aguamenti.” A hefty spout of water shot out of Kurt’s wand, he shaped into a sphere around his opponent, “Glacius.” The Sphere froze solidly through and marked the end of the dual; Kurt curtsied with an air of arrogance just to fly in face of the judges.

Kurt almost thought he saw a smile on General O-Ren Ishii’s face as he walked off the platform but counted it down to a case of insanity. He sat down knowing that he’d done his part to ensure the success of the team; Kurt could now unload one of his burdens and move on to saner times.

Kurt watched in awe as he witnessed spells he’d never once heard of and a variety distinct duelling styles that he wished take something to amalgamate into his own very aggressively eclectic panache.

Jesse kept to his simple stunning spells and elected to use the power of his movement in stark contrast to Kurt who used powerful spells and kept his movements minimal. The cute boy had a body that was made to move because he did it so well; his movements were fluid in their transition from one to the other, the movements seemed to come instinctually to the boy who, upon closer inspection, Kurt noted was clearly also a classically trained dancer. Jesse had grace along with power and it made him a formidable duelling foe regardless of how skilled you were as a spell caster due to his superior physical abilities.

Other than their history in ballet training, Kurt struggled to find similarities between Jesse and himself; the boy’s walk was understated and uniform in a militant fashion as opposed to Kurt’s prudish sashay; the boy started his duels in a martial arts stance where Kurt chose a classic ballet stance; his spoke his spells in a musical rhythm that made people’s knees quiver in ecstasy which was a stark contrast to Kurt’s insipid falsetto chants. The two boys couldn’t have been more different and yet were still quite similar when you stripped back their material differences that were created by differences a in the societies they were raised in but when Kurt looked at the boy there was something that distinguished him from Kurt. An air of self-assurance that Jesse always seemed to be emanating without second thought; Kurt wanted that so badly but he had never quite mastered it and instead wore a counterfeit scent.

Kurt had elected to pay close attention to Santana and Jesse due to their high scores in the first round; he had actually liked Santana’s spell, but he was yet to truly understand the distinction of dark spells; he felt that intention was the true distinction. Santana was announced and Kurt’s interest was piqued; he was curious to see what the ballsy brunette would do. He had taken to obsessively observing every facet of her; he watched her walk and drew uncanny parallels between her walk and his own; she elects to stand with a fierceness that juxtaposes his delicate stance; his words were uniform and monotonous as opposed to the way she announced each spell like a battle cry. Kurt’s thoughts wondered back to the words of wisdom Dumbledore had imparted in him about how fleeting his youth was; he looked at Santana, Hermione and even Brittany who were brilliant wizards in their own right but none of them behaved in a manner remotely similar to his grounded and ambitious way of life, they seemed to behave in a manner closer to their age in spite of their scholastic aptitude. It made Kurt think about how hard it had been to for him to actually misbehave due to his more studious take on the world, he had taken a decision at the time and had worked toward it but had still turned out a failure at being bad; Santana on the other hand, much like Hermione, chose to simply be without having to plan their behaviour in situations. He wasn’t a bad kid and he wouldn’t simply become one; he might have a streak of rebellion at his core but he, like some people that walked the face of this earth alongside him, was simply incapable of doing anything but make his parents proud.

Kurt watched how much more physical Santana was when she duelled, she turned each wrist movement onto a beautifully angry dance move- where Kurt’s aggression was controlled and conceptual, hers was wild, savage and physical; moving her entire body as an instrument of its raw expression. Kurt longed for the effortlessness of primal instinct; of any instinct, he had relied on logic for so long but in this magical universe there was no place for logic. He watched as the femme fatal emerged victorious, a small smirk on her face; he envied her effortlessness so.

Nobody could compare to the first three contestants even if they tried but each of the successive contestants went on to deliver performances laced with desperation.

“This marks the end of the second round of the duelling tournament. The Points stand as follows; PuicitiaVirtus scored twenty points, Hogwarts has twenty-nine points, Abafileo has seventeen, Salem Witch has twenty-six points, Wu-Xing has sixteen points, Beauxbaton has twenty-seven points,Durmstrang has twenty-two points andMahoutokoro has fifteen points; Note that Kurt Hummel’s performance received a record breaking score with a final total of twenty-nine points.” There was a small round of applause that served as the validation Kurt had been waiting for all day, “The teams moving on to the final round of the duelling tournament are Hogwarts and Beauxbaton. The second round of the practical challenges will commence at ten hundred hours on Monday.”

General O-Ren Ishii usually dismissed them so they did not dare move till they were told otherwise; she seemed to stand unmoving for a good thirty seconds before smiling at the crowd broadly, her face looked moments from shattering, “Tomorrow we will be taking an intermission where you will be treated to the Mahoutokoro experience.” She seemed mighty pleased to share their way of learning with their peers, “Classes commence at seven forty-five, dismissed.”

~0~

As Kurt and his team joyously enjoyed their meal they were approached by their quick friends, Santana, Brittany and Jesse. They sat nearest to Hermione and Kurt with whom they had formed greater bonds. They exchanged pleasantries and made small talk about the day’s events, with each congratulating the other for their team’s performance.

“Okay,” Santana leaned in and ushered the rest of the group to the same, obviously taking the onus of getting business upon herself, “We have tomorrow off and me thinks we should do something totally wild.”

“We don’t do wild,” Hermione said in her most prudish soprano before dropping her voice a few octaves and tilting her head forward, “We do adventurous.”

“Okay,” Kurt was amused by his friend’s antics, “I don’t know when we became adventurous because if memory serves we did homework.”

The group broke out in hysterics, Hermione frowned at him, “Why must you undermine my street credibility in company?”

“Well, while you two argue like an old married couple,” Jesse laughed at his own joke but it failed to humour anybody else, “I had a brilliant idea; we should hit the magical street market in the city.”

“I’m not sure we have permission for that kind of venture,” Hermione said before clasping her own hands over her mouth, “Dammit! There goes adventure, hello homework.”

“Hi homework,” Brittany smiled and waved at Hermione, “My parents said never to name the voices.”

“Okay,” He exchanged a worried look with Hermione, “So this market, how do we get there?”

“We take a cab,” Brittany giggles as though it were the most obvious answer.

“I don’t know,” Kurt spoke after a moment of internal conflict, “that would mean missing classes which I’m really looking forward to but it is shopping, which I love and miss dearly.”

Hermione giggled at Kurt’s Sophie’s Choice before replying on behalf of the pair, “We’d be glad to join your little excursion.”

~0~

Kurt wasn’t sure what the proper attire for an illegal outing was but at some point he had decided that black, much like bright colours, would draw more attention than he desired; in the end he'd opted for a pair of jeans and a grey jumper. He waited nervously for Hermione to emerge from the girl’s side of the pillar; when she finally emerged, prompt but Kurt was fond of being ahead of schedule, Kurt was moments from abandoning this entire affair.

“Ready to go?” she asked in a small shaky voice, Kurt was glad that he wasn’t the only one intimidated by the magnitude of their actions.

“Good bye homework,” he whispered as they stalked down the hall to their designated rendezvous spot, Kurt was beginning to regret turning down the opportunity to pull out offered at breakfast but braved on none the less.

“Hello Adventurous,” they spoke in sync as they approached the waiting group.

“Kurt, Hermione,” Santana smiled at the pair, “We were beginning to believe that you weren’t coming, crippled by the fear of breaking the rules.”

Kurt smirked at the casually dressed girl, “You must have us confused with a different pair of magical beings because we are not easily scared off,” Kurt got in her face as he spoke his final words in an effort to keep face, “But if you’re scared we won’t think little of you if you decided to head to class.”

Jesse chuckled as Brittany hung off his arm, “Ballsy Hummel but nobody is leaving now, if you made it this far then you have the stuff for this adventure.”

“Stuff?” Hermione’s fear had melted to disappointment at Jesse’s evidently limited vocabulary, “Balls, guts, courage, nerve, valour; there are so many words and you picked stuff?”

“Nerd Fight!” Brittany announced as she elevated herself between Jesse and Kurt’s shoulders.

“I’m not fighting,” Hermione turned her nose up at Jesse as she said this, “I’m simply letting him know that the English language has many much more eloquent manners of expressing that certain element that he wishes to bestow upon us to showcase our ability to overcome fear.”

Kurt tilted his head and raised a brow, “Really Hermione? During the people you behave like this.”

“Don’t hate the player,” Hermione smirked.

“so help me god if you complete that statement I will gauge your eyes out!” Kurt glared at Hermione for a split second.

“Hate.” Hermione took a long dramatic pause as she stared Kurt down, “The. Game.”

Kurt simply shook his head in defeat as they entered the ancient yellow car that was waiting for them, Santana instructed the driver as to where they were going.

“I read about this market in a wizard travel book,” Santana stated excitedly, “they said you can buy anything your heart desires here.”

“I’m hoping to find a vial of liquid luck,” Jesse smiled to himself, “It should come in handy in the long run.”

Santana’s eyes went wide while Kurt and Hermione simply exchanged confused looks, Brittany was more engrossed by the passing scenery than the conversation. Kurt turned to Santana as she stared talking, “I want an item enchanted to increase resistance to stunning spells, maybe a permanent blocking spell. What do you two want?”

Hermione and Kurt exchanged a look; Kurt spoke disjointedly, “Books? Shoes, maybe some cute hipster clothing.”

“Exotic fabrics and spices,” Hermione added with an air of triumph, “Normal tourist stuff.”

Santana laughed and shook her head at the pair, “You came unprepared?”

The pair exchanged a knowing look, “We’ve got what we need for a shopping trip,” Kurt stood tall and smiled at their peers as he spoke over the wheezing car engine, “We have an idea of what we want but we aren’t limiting ourselves with specifics.”

“So where do your teachers think you are because we simply disappeared,” she leaned forward and looked at the group from her window seat as she spoke, “I hope there wasn’t some master cover-up we were supposed to be part of.”

Santana looked perplexed by the question, “We’re eleven, not _Mission Impossible_ , when do you think we had time to plan all this?”

“If you guys had time to plan what you were going to buy,” Hermione spoke in her own defence as they got out of the beat up old car, “Why wouldn’t you have a _James Bond-esque_ plan for disappearing.”

Kurt looked down the wide deserted alley in the middle of downtown Tokyo with a bit of disappointment, “This looks like somewhere you’d get mugged,” he said distastefully as they walked deeper into the dark alley.

When they reached the end Santana took a step forward and started feeling up the wall, “it’s here somewhere,” she mumbled to herself, finally she found the right brick and the wall opened in a similar manner to Diagon Ally.

The market reminded him of Diagon Ally, in that it was nothing like the Ally. Where the Ally had its stores fixed in buildings, this was a very flea market environment with temporary stands; each had a wide array of exotic and dynamic wears on display, tantalising Kurt to buy them all. Where the ally had cleanliness and organization that Kurt was currently longing for, the market made up for their short comings with the wafting smells of delicious cooking, bright fabrics and unique trinkets that were all begging to be bought.

Kurt looked about for a moment before reaching into his handbag for his seemingly bottomless purse and smiling with glee. He walked up to a stall that had scarves crafted from delicate material and smiled at the patron in the most intimidating way he knew how, he had never haggled before and hoped he’d be good at it.

“Hi,” his voice was flat and lacked any indication as to how he was feeling about the scarves.

“Hello,” the elderly woman gave him a toothy grin, “Would you like a scarf? Their hand made from the finest silks and enchanted to warm like wool.”

Kurt’s eyes grew to the size of saucers, “You have got to be kidding!” his aloof manner and haggling abilities were out the window at the prospect of a fashion dream come true, “How much?”

“Three Galleons,” she had her features schooled in an effort to get Kurt to bend.

“I’ll take ten for twenty,” Kurt said meeting her dead stare enthusiastically as she gave him a reluctant nod, he got to working carefully selecting a variety of colours and patterns. He was ecstatic as he received his package, gleefully beaming a polite “Thank you.”

Santana had a disapproving look on her face, “You are a failure at this shopping thing,” she shook her head and rolled her eyes, “You just spent all your money on the first store you saw, didn’t you?”

Kurt let out a staggered breath and a chuckle, “My strategy is slightly different from yours, I simply buy everything that catches my eye and then later when I review my trip I return the things I’m truly not sold on.”

“This is a flea market, their return policy isn’t nearly as flexible as you might think.” Jesse gave a raucous laugh of indignation to accompany his snarky comment.

“They’re scarves,” Kurt rolled his eyes at the lot, “if I don’t like them I’ll give them as Christmas gifts; just don’t over think it.”

Hermione sniggered to herself, “When it comes to Kurt there is one simple philosophy that will spare you a lot of heartache, you simply don’t question his actions or motives.”

“That’s how I ended up in a cult last summer,” Brittany giggled as she fingered a dragon bone wind chime, “it was fun till the police came and stopped Lord Tubbington’s human sacrificing, then it was just sad.”

“If someone told me to stop sacrificing humans, it would kill my vibe as well,” Kurt said with a chuckle that only Brittany appreciated, “tough crowd.”

They went from shop to shop admiring the wares and promising to return even though they defiantly wouldn’t; there was a stand that had dream catchers made from every substance imaginable that they would know to steer clear of in future, for the smell and the peculiar store owner; there was a stall that had knock-off designer handbags that were charmed with an undetectable extension charm, Kurt was insulted when the man claimed that his original Burkin was one of his works and stormed off in a huff; at the next stall Kurt had spent two and a half galleons on a hand-written leather bound book that gave a detailed history and instruction in the art of wand lore, it was written in Arabic aside from the title and Kurt knew that he could have it translated under the ruse that it was fiction, the author had only credited himself as ‘Fat’ which Kurt thought was strange.

As they approached a fabric store and Kurt’s heart started beating faster, there was a reasonable young man selling the wares. They all looked the store over; Santana bought dragon hide that had fire resistant qualities and swore to make the perfect pair of glove with the obsidian material; Jesse said that buying clothes was his mother’s job and elected instead to kick a rock about the paved floor; Hermione, upon Kurt’s advisement, selected a periwinkle bluechiffon that seemed to flow between shades of blue as it moved; Brittany selected a Hello Kitty print that winked and waved, she proclaimed that it would make the perfect pyjammies; Kurt selected a thread that shone like onyx that the store clerk call shadow thread, was said to be used to summon shadows for stealth reasons rather than as a textile but the way the thread glittered in the sunlight had Kurt sure it would weave into the perfect fabric for a winter coat. They paid for their wares and were on their way with weightless shopping bags in hand, Kurt was making a mental note in his journal to learn how to enchant a loom as they moved on to the next major stall.

Jesse had dragged them to a stall that seemed to exclusively sell ancient Japanese Manga that he swore were impossible to find and incredibly rare, all Kurt saw were old children’s picture books. Kurt was bored out of his mind for a good forty-five minutes as Jesse slowly combed through the collection of graphic novels for something that was valuable or possibly to his liking. By the time the group dragged him away Kurt was sure he was an inch closer to death and he’d wasted a good portion of his life in that shop doing sweet blow all.

The sun was over head as they got back to functional shopping, their next venture was a potioneer’s stall. Jesse got to work looking for his liquid luck amongst the endless assortments of glass vials of a variety of liquids; Kurt looked them over wondering if something would jump out at him as he scanned the handwritten labels, they were fortunate that they were in both Japanese and English or this leg of their excursion would be in vain. Jesse successfully found the Felix Felicis and purchased several vials, Kurt did the same- just in case he needed a little extra bravery. Kurt also bought a single vial of a polyjuice potion out of sheer curiosity, he’d read of its effects but had never had the time nor skills necessary to brew it but now he could immerse himself in the experience without putting in the additional effort.

Kurt was quite pleased with himself as he looked over the stall of enchanted trinkets, he was having quite the shopping trip; he had only spent fifty-three galleons and ten sickles but he had quite the collection of wares to show for it. Kurt was drawn to a silver Egyptian cotton bed spread that was said to have preventative enchantment for bed bugs and he was sleeping on a bed that wasn’t his own in a shared room, the perfect breeding ground for pests; the linens called out to him and that sealed the deal, Kurt was chuffed as a child on Christmas as he added his most recent purchase to his bottomless shopping bag.

Their next stop was a stationary shop, Kurt scarcely hear his stomach begin to growl at this point and made a mental note to make time for a meal before his gastric distress became audible to his peers. Kurt’s eye was immediately caught by a stationary set that consisted of several fountain pens, a fully stocked rubber stamp tin, a collection of postcards, a note pad, journal and a set of embossed paper set in a variety of sizes; the bit that had Kurt sold was how elegantly simplistic it was, he knew it would make him seem more mature.

~0~

The make shift group was seated at a tea house, seemingly the only static set-up in the entire market. When he said tea house he was being very generous, it was an old sushi cart parked beside a covered patio area.

“I’ve never had sushi before,” Hermione announced nervously in a jovial tone as she sat beside, “It’s just never really been an option in my household, my parents are very plain people and adventure simply isn’t in their nature.”

Kurt giggled at her tone, “Being the pretentious snob that I am, I insisted my dad have a sushi bar at his wedding. You can’t tell that the fish isn’t cooked, other than the small tell in the texture.”

“It’s raw fish!” Hermione said with a wide stare, “I get immersing ourselves in the culture but this is a step too far for me.”

“I’ve never been a raw food person,” Santana said eying the platter placed before them, “I don’t even eat tartar.”

“You’re all simply over thinking this,” Jesse announced with a totalitarian tone, “I’m from Malibu, we eat more sushi than we drink water.”

Kurt looked over at Brittany who was quietly working her chopsticks with expert skill, “You know I read once that the height at which you hold your chopsticks is an indication of your intelligence,” he gestured toward Brittany who had was working hers with the skill of a master.

A silence washed over the group for a moment, they each exchanged looks before their competitive nature kicked in; they wrestled each other for a set of wooden chopsticks. They each took turns displaying their prowess and showing off their associated intelligence, by the time their childish games had come to a stop the platter was almost empty and their scepticism had long dissipated.

“You know, a competitive nature is considered healthy,” Hermione giggled, “but I’ve never heard of people competing at eating.”

“I’m a hotdog eating champion,” Brittany smiled, pleased with himself. She popped her collar as she carried on, “I ate sixteen more than the guy who was second, I’m a bit of a legend.”

Jesse shook his head at the girl with nothing but disappointment as the group giggled at the pair, “You’re painting a very skewed portrait of our home land; she isn’t really a legend, such frivolities aren’t really as cherished in the states as Brittany perceives them to be.”

“We’re not judging,” Kurt said trying to seize his giggles, “My father has trophy for drinking more beer than anyone else at some sleazy bar in Alsace.”

“Where?” Hermione demanded.

“I don’t where it is either,” Kurt shrugged and giggled once more, “my father always goes on as though it’s some grand place but I simply haven’t the foggiest idea where it is or if it’s real.”

“It’s a region in eastern France,” Santana rolled her eyes at the pair as she spoke, “I’m guessing that makes it very real.”

“You know, nobody like a know-it-all,” Hermione said turning her nose up at the girl.

“That’s rich coming from you,” Kurt giggled to himself before his thoughts caught up with his words, “or me, or any of us actually.”

Brittany gave him a queer look, “Aren’t we a little pretty to be nerds?”

“Oh my gosh Brittany!” Santana countered jovially, “we’re allowed to be both.”

“Are we,” Jesse asked with a furrowed brow, “Are we really?”

~0~

Kurt was standing in a book store no bigger than a shipping crate as the sun started toward sunset, Kurt looked around to realise that it may have once been a shipping crate indeed. Kurt first looked about the shelves of scrolls, tossing aside a series of scrolls on trivial subjects that had no relevance in his life. He didn’t particularly care for transfiguration and potion brewing, as such he cast them aside and carried on looking for something that was more fitting of his interests; history, science and charms were more to his personal taste. His first success was a scroll called‘The History of the Order of the White Lotus’, it told the story of the society’s formation eons ago in medieval China and its roll throughout the ages. His next find was truly a joy indeed, it was titled ‘The Origin of Magic’; its contents were on the magical core, how it affected use of magic and the proper methods to harness that core. Kurt was chuffed as could be with his scrolls stuffed into his shopping bag and only nine galleons down.

Their next stop was at another bookshop much to Kurt’s absolute glee, Kurt had gotten to work searching for something he would enjoy reading. Santana came up behind him, “How is the magical education at Hogwarts? You do seem to be doing a hell of a lot better than us.”

“I don’t know really,” Kurt blushed in embarrassment, “I’ve nothing to compare it too.”

Santana looked confused by Kurt’s statement, “Your father, hailing from Alsace went to Hogwarts?”

“Oh no,” Kurt giggled to himself, “My father isn’t a wizard, he actually went to Eton.”

“Oh, I get it now.”

“I can tell you that the education system is more general than most of these schools from what I have gathered,” Kurt pulled a book off the shelf with big gold letters printed on the spine, ‘Dark Magic for the Wizard of Light.’

“Are they as much of a sucker for the rules as my school?” she asked raising an eyebrow at the book in his hands, “I was wondering how much freedom you have, Headmistress Maxime and Madam Sabine are always reminding us that we’re expected to behave in a ladylike fashion at all times.”

“Rules are in place to keep the peace but not really as an indication of proper behaviour,” Kurt smiled as he went back to searching the shelves, “The students behave like animals if it pleases them, they’re just touchy about rule breaking.”

Santana raised her brows in acknowledgement and slinked away silently, leaving Kurt unsure of her line of questioning.

~0~

Kurt stood between Santana and Hermione with his head bowed as the three adults paced paths that intermingled before them.

“How dare you!”  Snape snapped at the pair.

“How dare we what?” Kurt asked quizzically, their wares were hidden in their rooms and with it, their guilty.

“We were in our rooms all day,” Hermione said with a slight smile, “I had food poisoning.”

Kurt stifled a giggle before presenting his own excuse, “I had menstrual cramps.”

Snape raised a curious brow, “Food poisoning and menstrual cramp? You must take me for a fool but alas; since I’ve no proof you were out, I’ll have to take your word for it.”

The red-haired doe-eyed woman stood before Brittany with her hands on her hips, “What do you two have to say for your absence?”

“I was dead,” Brittany said coldly.

The wholegroup gaped at her with jaws hanging open, Kurt was at a loss of words; sure they hadn’t planned their alibis ahead of time and the lot of them were pulling their superior’s legs by using muggle excuses but surely she had taken it too far.

Santana swooped in, redirecting everyone’s attention, and took the stage; “I was distraught at Brittany’s fall to the Draught of Living Death and worked tirelessly to see her revived.”

“Very well,” the dark haired Sabena said in a deep French accent, “I pray you know that lying is an unladylike behaviour.”

“I do Madam Sabine,” Santana smiled devilishly behind the proud woman’s back.

“Jesse,” the red-haired woman asked with a sweetness in her voice, “where were you all day?”

Jesse stared her down for a moment before smiling sweetly, “I went to the bathroom and fell asleep on the pot.”

She giggled at how crude the tone of his answer was, “Quite alright, in future please be sure to tell somebody the next time you disappear so nobody worries.”

“Yes, Ms Pillsbury.” They sang in unison.

The group went on to the dining hall to join their peers for dinner; Finn gave Kurt a disapproving look as he sat in the seat opposite to his brother who simply scowled at him.

“What might I ask is your problem?” Kurt furrowed a brow toward the taller boy, staring into the boy’s big brown eyes for a moment before the boy looked down.

Finn mumble a reply into his supper without meeting Kurt’s gaze which he knew very well would frustrate his brother to no end. Kurt looked to Neville questioningly and got nothing but a shrug for a reply from the boy.

“Speak with words!” Kurt demanded rolling his eyes at his brother, “You know that if you don’t voice your concerns my ability to care will dissipate and then it’ll be on you.”

Finn pushed back from the table, towering over the group, “I spoke to Burt.” The boy’s face was scrunched up in distaste and his voice loud, “You told him I was picking on you? How could you?”

“You making a spectacle of yourself, clam down,” Kurt breathed slowly and spoke monotonously; it would be no go if they were both behaving like raving fools. Kurt held out a compassionate hand, “I spoke to father and I mentioned that you had spoken insensitively to the situation at hand; but no, I didn’t tell him you were picking on me.” Kurt let out a staggered breath, “You are behaving like a child though, I’ve half to call your mother.”

“You see!” Finn grabbed tufts of mud brown hair as his words failed him and nothing more than a high pitched cry escaped from his throat. He stormed out of the hall with Kurt hot on his heels, nobody dared follow the pair.

“I’ve not got the foggiest idea what ails you,” Kurt shook his head at his brother standing in the cold night air outside the dining hall, “Use your words.”

Finn’s hands had moved from his hair to his face, “How do you look down your nose at me when I’m towering over you? How do you make me into a child by holding the threat of our parent’s over my head? Tell me how you do it and I’ll go back inside to take my seat like a good dog.”

Kurt lowered his chin and looked up at the boy with eyes that cut like a knife, “Did I lie to father? Is this not you treating me like a villain? I do not make anything of you and I’ve never looked down on you, the problem here is that you’re so self-absorbed that you can’t see that I nothing but to please your fantasy.”

“Did he just quote Shakespeare?”

“I treat you like a child because we’re children,” Kurt knew that his voice was condescending, “I think the time you spend with your older friends has you forgetting your place amongst us mortals, looking down on us from your seat on Olympus.”

“Oh yes, because god forbid somebody is better than you.”

“Where is this coming from?” Kurt’s words caught in his throat as he looked at his brother’s strong face, “Because I know that being reprimanded by father would not spur such malice from you.” Kurt’s thought’s caught up to his word once again and chuckled to himself, “it’s because nobody can be better than you and you think the same of me, this isn’t the first time you’re bringing this thought forward.”

“What?” Finn giggled nervously, “This isn’t about me.”

“Is it not?” Kurt cocked his head to the side, leaning with his back against the wall, “What are we doing? Is this what happens when we are no longer friends? Is this the curse of brotherhood?”

“We were best friends once,” Finn whispered solemnly, “now you have taken to Hermione as I have to Cedric, we are practical strangers now.”

Kurt knew this to be true and since yesterday it had bothered him, “Is this the curse of brotherhood?”

~0~

Kurt had been wreaked with guilt all through the end of the second round and well into the third round, he’d barely been conscious his own final duel; he’d faced Santana and emerged victorious but could barely recall the details of how he’d done it. The day had gone and they were sitting at the awards dinner, General O-Ren Ishii had delivered her closing.

“I now call upon Sir Nicholas Flamel, the famed alchemist, to hand-out the medals,” the General announced sounding pleased at her superior abilities of name dropping.

An elderly man with a well-trimmed but wild whiskers and goatee, Kurt and Hermione exchanged knowing looks; Kurt could feel Finn’s eyes on him as he looked to Hermione but dared not turn to meet the look. The man they had questioned themselves tirelessly about was standing before them in simple green cloak with elaborate gold embroidery that shone as though made the finest mineral.

“The results for the Quiz Bowl are as follows; in third place, receiving bronze medals, is the PuicitaVirtus team,” There was a polite round of applause as the team took in the stage, shaking hands with Mr Flamel and receiving medalsof shining bronze.

“In Second Place, receiving silver medals, is the Mahoutokoro team,” the great hall was filled with a raucous and enthusiastic applause, General O-Ren Ishii gave a small smile.

“In First place, winning the quiz bowl and receiving gold medals, is the Salem Witch Institute team.” Kurt clapped happily for his friends as General O-Ren Ishii clapped politely for the categorical victors, “Congratulations.”

She cleared her throat quietly but this called silence into the room, “The results for the Practical Challenge are as follows; in third place, receiving bronze medals, is the Salem Witch Institute team,” Brittany danced across the stage enthusiastically to claim her medal with a pleased smile on her beautiful face and her blond hair swishing about, the audience met her enthusiasm with their applause.

“In second place, receiving silver medals,is the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft team,” Finn, Padma and Hermione hugged each other as they claimed their prizes eagerly.

The applause died quickly, “In first place, winning the practical challenge and receiving gold medals, is the Durmstrang Institute team.” The Durmstrang team marched onto the stage in a militant fashion like none he’d seen before, Kurt was not surprised that he hadn’t engaged any of the stiff boys; indeed he was stuck up, but they took it to another level.

“The result for the Duelling Tournament are as follows,” Kurt was once again surprised by General O-Ren Ishii’s ability to speak monotonously and in uniform, “in third place, receiving a bronze medal, is Jesse St James of Salem Witch Institute.”

Kurt watched as Jesse proudly walked across the stage with his chest puffed out, the handsome boy managed to be self-entitled and at the same time humbled by the honours.

“In Second Place,” they had all witnessed the results but the way the General spoke them made them sound brand new, “receiving a silver medal, is Santana Lopez of Beauxbaton Academy of Magic.”

“In first place, winning the duelling tournament and receiving the gold medal, is Kurt Hummel of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.” Kurt preened at the applause he received as he glided across the stage to accept his prize; there was no greater feeling than victory, of that he was sure, “Kurt has also received an invitation to begin his training under the Order of the White Lotus this summer, the youngest student since the order was established over seven hundred years ago.”

Kurt bowed elegantly as the applause grew, he revelled in his spot in the sun but suddenly he was reminded of the words that had been shared between brothers two sunsets before; Kurt gestured to his team and the applause had died down. Kurt returned to his seat, smiling to his friends triumphantly and looked to General O-Ren Ishii for the final result; the one result they had no knowledge of.

“The overall results are as follows,” she paused for a moment and pursed her lips, enticing the crowds, “in Third place, Durmstrang Institute hailing from Sweden. In Second place, Hogwarts School if Wizard and Witchcraft hailing from Scotland. In First Place, Salem Witch Institution hailing from the United States.”

The applause was raucous and undying as the teams received their respective trophies, Kurt tried to be gracious as they settled for second place but grace in such a situation had never been a strong suit for him.

“We’re losers” he announced to the group,they all seemed to have been caught unawares by his sudden declaration, “that is evidently how the west was won.”

Kurt let out a slightly manic laughter and walked over to Brittany, he stroked her luscious blond hair, “I’d say the best team won but we came in second.”

“I’m gonna miss you too!” she hugged him tightly knowing this may be the last time they see each other, “Maybe when I learn how to write I’ll send you an owl.”

“Do those do long distance?” Kurt raised a questioning brow.

As Kurt was saying his goodbyes to his new friends and exchanging contact details he was interrupted by the clearing of a throat; he turned to see Grand Master Iroh standing before him.

“I hope I will be seeing you this summer,” he smiled broadly, “an official invitation, for admin reasons.”

Kurt looked down at the beautiful heavy embossed stationary and smiled internally, “For admin reasons,” he repeated with a chuckle but Grand Master Iroh had long disappeared when he raised his head from the sealed envelope.

He turned to see the person he was most dreading saying goodbye to, Santana gave him a small smile, “You know what? You’re simply on the other side of the English Channel, I refuse to say goodbye like we may never see each other again.”

“It would be rather stupid of us,” she looked down at her shoes before giving him a brief hug, “till we meet again.” She shook his hand solemnly, grabbed one of the address cards he’d made last night and walked off to be with her classmates.

“Ready to go home?” Dumbledore asked stroking his long white beard seemingly having appeared out of nowhere, “and of course by home I do mean Hogwarts, this is not the time to play magical car pool.”

“Ready,” Kurt whispered.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Kurt walked back into the castle with a spring in his step; Christmas had been wonderful, give or take a moment or two. He had been ecstatic to spend time with the family but for the most part he had longed to be back in his own space, Kurt loved going to Hogwarts but having to share a room with Dumb, Dumber and Obnoxious was unbearable; but he knew that for every good there must be bad and simply bared through the irritant with gritted teeth.

He and Finn were still at an awkward point in their relationship; after their heart to heart in Japan they had established that they simply didn’t find the time for each other. Kurt knew that they had never really shared the circle of friends before coming to Hogwarts, Finn’s circle actually had people in it, or really had the same classes but they lived together and spent copious amounts of time together as brothers that way but now that was all gone. Kurt was in Slytherin; he spent his time outside of class in the library or in the dungeon, when he was available Finn had commitments to his team and such. Although they had spent the festive season together, the presence of their extended family made fortifying and reforming their bond almost impossible. They had gone their separate ways as soon as they’d arrived and Kurt could feel regret festering at his core; there was more to this than simple estrangement but he simply couldn’t deduce what that thing standing between them was.

Kurt cast those distressing thoughts aside as he strode down the hallswith falsified confidence, their parents had dropped a major bombshell on him over the break and it had fuelled previously dormant anxieties within him; Carole was pregnant, with a child. It wasn’t that Kurt didn’t like children, he didn’t though, but this would ultimately single him out and eventually see him excluded just like Cinderella. Kurt had always had a single thought that doused his insecurities about being adopted; adopted children were all his father had ever known, he didn’t have any kids of his own and so wouldn’t put anyone before him. The circumstances had changed for him, there would be some kid that he wouldn’t even be around to defend himself against as it spread its infectious cuteness; Kurt he was wise to fear that monstrosity’s power unlike Finn who was excited about the prospect of extending his duties as an older brother.

The pleasant parts of Christmas were sufficiently abundant as to make up for the trip’s disappointments; his Oma had shown up completely drunk and had been a blast the entire visit-Kurt loved when she mixed her pills with alcohol. She had gifted him with a technicoloured sweater he was sure he’d probably never grow into, a deck of cards and a lesson on how to hustle people out of their money; she’d also spooked Carole’s parents by alluding to casual drug use and made his Christmas.

The family had been pleasant through and through, his ‘Pa had said nothing the entire trip, which always seemed to get to Finn and amuse Kurt. He had brought them each riding boots and insisted they refine their equestrian skills, he managed to do that without using a single word. His Grandparents from Shefield had come around as well; they, along with Carole’s folks, had decided to keep gifting simple- cards and cash; Kurt had collected eighty quid in total due to the frugality of the elderly.

The second burst of joy had come wrapped and under their scale model of the Eifel Tower, themed Christmases were a Hudson-Hummel tradition and this year had been _A Winter in Paris_ , the pile of presents had been as high as he was. There had been a lot of stuff that he sadly could no longer use but also a lot of stuff he had been dying to have; a computer for his bedroom, a complete hair care kit that included a straightener, a set of French language books to hone his skills and envelopes of gift certificates to all his favourite stores; he’d demanded a shopping spree soon after.

“Kurt,” he was startled by the sound of his name, he saw Harry smiling down at him for the top of a flight of stairs as he lugged his suitcase behind him on his way to the dungeons, “Welcome back.”

The boy hurried down the stairs to help him with his burden, Kurt smiled gratefully, “It’s great to be back, how was your festive season?”

“A heck of a lot better than prior experiences, that’s for sure.”

“That’s lovely dear,” Kurt smiled warmly at the boy, “anything worth mentioning?”

“Strictly speaking,” the boy stumbled nervously, “no.”

“Speaking casually?”

He leaned into Kurt’s personal space and spoke in a hoarse whisper, “I found a mirror that shows one their deepest desire.”

“Such a mirrors must be the way in the wizarding world, is not so?”

“Dumbledore thinks it’s pretty rare,” Harry said after giving it a bit of thought.

“Hmm, you’ve consulted the matter with Dumbledore,” Kurt pursed his lips, a tell that he was paying the notion a fair bit of thought, “Well, might I ask what The Boy Who Lived saw as his deepest desire?”

“I guess so…” Harry paused nervously, “it was my familyI saw when I looked in the mirror.”

“Justified,” Kurt felt awkward, not knowing how to offer solace to the boy but without patronising him, “I fear it is fruitless to desire the family you’ve lost, better forge one a new.”

All Kurt got in reply to his most formidable wisdom was a curt nod, he supposed it should have washed him over with irony but it was lost on him as he tried to figure if he’d offended the boy. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Harry bid him a due and was off the library.

Kurt couldn’t understand why the use of magic was forbidden in the hallways in an institution of witchcraft and wizardry, which is like banning reading in a library, if he had been allowed to levitate his suitcase he would have been spared from the awkward and polite conversation. By the time he made it down to his room he was irritated to find his least favourite person lounging obnoxiously, how he managed to do everything so obnoxiously was beyond Kurt, on the bed opposite his own.

“Oh, you’re back for more humiliation,” the boy spoke lazily, his eyes dark and uncaring. Kurt wasn’t sure whether to take offence from the boy’s lack of interest and effort in today’s banter or to thank whatever nameless gods presided over the wizarding world for the peace he was afforded, none the less Kurt had a witty retort up his sleeve for such a moment.

“I don’t recall being humiliated,” Kurt said without meeting the boy’s gaze, he worked on unpacking his stuff as quickly as his slim arms would allow, “As I recall it I was doing quite well for myself in both the scholastical and the extramural spheres of my magical education, but then again you weren’t there to witness my international triumph.”

“My father saw your little article in _The Daily Prophet_ and thought it was shameful that Dumbledore was letting muggle-borns represent the school,” Draco spat the words at him, “He said he’d never felt more regret not sending me to Durmstrang than he did seeing you, your mudblood brother and Granger grinning on the front page; he’d always said that Dumbledore had grown old and foolish.”

Kurt smiled sweetly and spoke in a low merry voice, “Tell your father that I had a whole basket full of fucks to give, but they all flew away.”

Whilst the boy was still confused by his odd statement Kurt turned on heels and left the room bumping into Crabbe on his way out, receiving only a grunt of acknowledgement from the lackey. Kurt had never cared enough about the word ‘mudblood’ in the past to look into the meaning, he’d always taken it for the loutish colloquialisms of children but hearing of an adult using the term in a displeasing manner made Kurt curious. As he scurried off to the library to find a solution to the questions that floated about in his mind.

As Kurt entered the library he was shocked to find the person he’d least expected, sitting riffling through a pile of books higher than he was tall, Ron Weasley; Kurt took note that too many things were higher and taller than himself.

“Ronald?” Kurt asked with a wicked smile adorned on his pale face, “Today the sun shall fall and be feasted on by the fowls, what are you doing in the library?”

“Kurt,” the boy’s voice was flat but his eyes burned as bright as his hair.

Kurt’s smile turned to an indignant smirk, “If I were not as wise, I would have supposed by the fire in your eyes that you were pleased to see me.”

“Why would that idea surprise you?” Ron asked wagging a fiery brow that wriggled like wild flames, “with you here, I only have to do half the reading.”

“Aren’t you here with Harry?” Kurt asked rolling his eyes at the idea of reading that pile of books.

“He’s around here somewhere with his own pile of books,” Ron seemed to be uninterested reading; choosing, for the first time, to speak to Kurt.

“And what exactly are you reading?” Kurt’s curiosity was biting at him and he simply had to know.

“I don’t know,” he shut the large book for a moment and eyed the peeling gold script, “looking for any word of Nicolas Flemel.”

“Is that on Alchemy?”

“No” Ron looked perplexed by the question, “it’s a recent history book.”

“Well,” Kurt twirled his recently straightened hair, cut too short and too well maintained to grow into its natural wilderness, “then you're looking in the wrong section.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I met the man in passing,” Kurt’s own brows were no more than geometric feats of artistry;they were no visual spectacle to behold. Kurt allowed his thoughts to shift for a moment, “We can discover who Nicolas Flemel is in a moment, first I need to ask you something.”

“You?” Ron spoke wearily with a furrowed brow, “Ask me?”

“There’s a colloquialism I heard in pass,” Kurt exhaled and kept his voice low, he didn’t mean to be heard by anyone near them, “What is a mudblood?”

Ron paled, his face contorted by deep thought, when he finally spoke his voice was low, “that’s a bad word Kurt, my father says only the foulest kind of wizard would speak such a word.”

“What does it mean?”

“Dirty blood,” Ron seemed almost afraid of the wordsas he spoke them, “my father said that it is used by pureblood supremacists when they speak of muggle-borns.”

Kurt raised a brow of acknowledgement but was unable to speak; he swore under his breath in that moment that he would make Draco pay dearly. He smiled away the hurt of prejudice and looked the flame haired boy in the eye, “Thank you for your honesty, I guess this is the moment for reciprocity.”

“What about Nicolas Flemel?”

“That’s what I meant,” Kurt gave a small smile and pulled the boy behind him by the arm as they navigated the tall shelves in search of their friends.

“Kurt,” Harry’s voice was small as it called for him with surprise, “Where’s Hermione?”

“Here I am,” Hermione had just the book he was thinking to get; her hair was still as wild as always, she was yet to grow into her large teeth nor her snooty attitude, “I’ve just the book we need, hey Kurt.”

He smiled as she gesture for them to enter the space between the tall shelves, the light was diminished but the group fit into the space well, it was Ron who broke their silence, “What is this?”

“A book,” Harry smiled.

“Really?”

“It has what we need to know,” Hermione said as he eyes darted back and forth in the silent and deserted library.

Kurt looked about the deserted isle between the tall shelves of the library; he turned into the group, looking each of his friends in the eyes, “This is what we know about Nicolas Flemel,” he opened the great book to the page he remembered reading when Hermione had shown him the book upon their return from their great victory, “He’s an alchemist.”

“An alchemist?” Harry asked in a confused squeak.

“An alchemist is a scholar of alchemy,” Hermione rolled his eyes at the blank stare Harry gave her in response, “Alchemy is the protoscience that birthed Chemistry, though more inclusive of mythology. It was believed that followers of this philosophy could turn base metals to gold and create a universal cure for all human ailments.”

“They were also believed to be the creators of philosopher’s stones,” Kurt added with a curt smile, “Nicolas Flemel is the only person known to have successfully created one, he’s more than six hundred years old.”

Kurt pointed to the passage that spoke of the man, he knew that they would not take his word without proof, “He’s like… immortal or something?”

“The elixir of life extends one’s life for a specified duration but it is chronic dependence from then,” Hermione said with a pleased smile.

Harry held up a hand, “That’s what Fluffy is guarding, that’s what Hagrid got out of the vault at Gringots, that’s what Snape is after.”

“Again with this Snape business?” Kurt asked with an exasperated eyeroll, “Don’t you think if he was interested in claiming the stone for himself he would have stayed behind when we were in Tokyo and tried his luck whilst Dumbledore was doing his duties as headmaster? That would have probably had McGonagall out of the castle as well.”

“I have a feeling,” Harry said in a low rasp, “I’m sure of it.”

Hermione had a look of support for Harry’s words, “The evidence is mounted against him.”

“Circumstantial evidence,” Kurt said with an eye roll, “Evidence that you all engineered and dreamed up based on the idea that he’s evil.”

“He is evil,” Harry announced a little too loudly.

“Why?”

“He just is,” the scarred boy replied.

“Because he’s a Slytherin?” Kurt asked the next question boldly, “Am I also evil?”

There was a lingering silence till Hermione decided to speak for the trio, “No, it’s just that the evidence points toward Professor Snape.”

“You saw him jinx Harry’s broom yourself,” Ron spoke calmly, an attribute that Kurt would have associated him with.

“And he got himself bitten by the three headed dog,” Kurt spoke the words but couldn’t bring himself believe them, “he cheats at quidditch and also he’s really creepy; I get it, it makes sense.”

Kurt omitted his uncertainties.

~0~

The first few weeks had been a nervous mess of anticipation and paranoia since they had acquired the knowledge of what was hidden in in the school, Kurt had taken to reading as much as he possibly could about the stone but there was not much to be known in writing. Knowing what the stone was and what it did served only to pique Hermione and his curiosity, they wondered how such an artefact can exist and why it would be hidden away. Was Nicolas Flemel greedy and unwilling to share immortality? Was it to prevent an economic collapse like the one his dad said would happen if people could print their own money? Or was it to keep it from the supposedly ‘bad’ people who wanted it for selfish reasons?

It was Saturday and as such Kurt was sitting in the mass of stands amongst the throngs of Hufflepuff students as they cheered loudly for the victory of their team. Kurt had sacrificed the plight of his skin to paint his face to support his brother in his great debut as a sporting superstar; the boy had missed his original debut against Ravenclaw because he’d been away, Kurt hadn’t been a great brother at the time and hoped that this would make up for it. In all honesty, Kurt hadn’t been a good brother in a while and he knew that something as superficial wouldn’t be enough to refortify their relationship, they had drifted apart because of conflicting schedules but Kurt knew he was primarily to blame; first he had spent all his time in detention, then on the BAT and now it was spent chasing the ghost of Nicolas Flemel.

Kurt had made a decision to cast aside the many distractions of school, the universe and life to spend the day at his brother’s beck and call. Kurt had no one with him to explain the plays this time but his memory would hopefully be sufficient for a formidable understanding.

The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams hovered about as Professor Snape appeared on the pitch at a leisurely stroll to release the quaffle and start the match, Kurt wondered if Harry and the Gryffindor team truly had any reason to fear the man’s intentions as a referee but after conceding with the group to accept that he was indeed evil it was only logical that he would waste his evil cheating at sports, or at least that was the group logic. The mighty lions had trained endlessly in preparation for the match out of fear of an unfair match and no matter how the match went they would have their unfair match, on a psychological level at least for they truly believed that Professor Snape would be an unfair referee.

Kurt watched as the players swished about the pitch in frantic effort to exchange the ball… no,quaffle, between members of their own team whilst avoiding the large black monstrosity that meant to kill as it wildly maneuverer the pitch. The match had just began and it seemed that handsome Cedric Diggory was already at work putting points on the board for his team not that the opposition wasn’t the same. Finn was preoccupied by the violent black ball… bludger, Kurt had known this was what he was expected to do but he had to admit that it made him nervous. Kurt was surprised when almost as quickly as the match had begun it was over; in his single prior experience the match had been slightly longer but he guessed that was the plight of a match with a flexible length, it made him wonder if this ever happened to people who paid to watch the match. The match had ended in favour of the Gryffindors when Harry had caught the golden snitch within the first five minutes.

Kurt had loitered on the stands for a moment and then strolled over to the change room exit, the throngs of teenagers that were leaving the Hufflepuff change rooms didn’t seem to be defeated but rather their ordinary social selves, Kurt was unnerved by their pleasant demeanour.

“Kurt!” Finn exclaimed happily before tackling him, Kurt thanked heavens that he hadn’t worn his white coat as he fell over.

“Hi Finn,” his voice was breathy as he was helped back to his feet, “I’m sorry you lost, have a chocolate bar.”

“I shouldn’t.”

“It’s a ritz bar,” Kurt waved the bar in the boy’s peripheral vision to entice him.

“Give that to me,” he grabbed the bar, savaged the wrapper and devoured it in two bites, “Gods be good.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you,” Kurt was never comfortable with being wrong or having to admit to his feelings and this was a combination of both, “I know I’ve been a bad friend and an even worse brother without even realising it.”

Finn was silent for a long time, long enough to unman Kurt. When a reply finally came it was so faint and distant that at first he did not recognize it for what it was, the words were scratching at his frontal lobe and it had been so long since he’d had someone in his mind, ‘you’re a jerk, but you’re my jerk.’

They leisurely strolled up to the castle taking a lazy and deserted trail as the January air was biting at their extremities, ‘You do realise nobody else survives calling me a jerk,’ Kurt beamed at his brother playfully.

‘Your B.A.T. Duelling Tournament gold medal is no match for my Regional Junior Wrestling participation ribbon,’ the boy countered with a playful shove; Kurt had never been so glad for a shove in his life- it was a symbol that normality had been restored, maybe recreated was the better word for it.

Kurt wrapped a scarf around the taller boy’s neck as they sat down on the bench in view of thewompingwillow, the tree appeared to be shivering. Kurt was practising the summoning charm Santana had taught him, he concentrated on where he had put the flask exactly- it was in his room on top of his chest. With hand at the ready as he visualized the flask he spoke the incantation with his wand pointed skyward, “Venir.”

The flask appeared in his hand, the charm wasn’t as quick as using a traditional summoning charm but worked more effectively for longer distances.

Kurt poured a cup from the flask and handed it to his brother, “you know I don’t drink tea.”

“It’s hot chocolate,” Kurt thrust the cup into his brother’s hand, nearly scalding them both, “it came this morning from home, Carole made it just for us so drink.”

Finn blew into the molten chocolate mix, “smells just like her.”

“She smells like berries not chocolate,” Kurt giggled at the boy’s face as Finn faked a pout but failed miserably to garner the desired effect, “I know I picked the scent.”

“You know,” Finn raised a brow, “That’s new.”

Kurt stared the boy down for a moment, “did you enjoy playing cricket?”

“Quidditch.”

“Same thing,” Kurt sipped his coffee whilst looking to Finn expectantly, “What?”

“You’re doing it.”

“Oh,” Kurt raised a questioning brow, “there is an ‘it’ I do?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“Of course and I’m just patronisingly feigning ignorance,” Kurt insured that the sarcasm in his tone rang true in his brother’s ears.

“You want to know what it is?” Finn asked in a bit of shout as he was standing up and placing his cup on the bench. Kurt nodded in agreement, he braced himself as Finn started screaming, “It’s not always about you! I know you're busy and all but in all honesty you could at least try to pretend to care that other people have lives as well; mom and Burt having a baby isn’t about you, you could at least pretend to know what’s going on in my life and also, we get it you're good at this magic thing but you could have carried the flask.”

“Are you done?”

“Am I done?” Finn exclaimed loudly, “No, also… okay I’m done.”

“Well, now that everything has been said,” Kurt nonchalantly buffed a nail and smiled, “drink your cocoa before it solidifies.”

“Drink my cocoa? That’s all you have to say?”

“I’m okay.”

“So I’m the dick who has a problem with his perfect brother.”

“I’m not perfect,” Kurt smiled as he spoke; they were talking about it, this was healthy. He grabbed Finn’s hand to offer solace, “I’m pretty amazing but you can’t put me on a pedestal and expect things to work out.”

“You are without blame.”

“The blame I’m willing to shoulder is being self-absorbed but I don’t care to accept fault for having an emotional reaction,” Kurt’s stare was slowly turning icy, “Who’s the smartest person you know?”

“You are.”

“Hermione Granger is better read and more diversely versed, you met Brittany recently and she singlehandedly possessed more knowledge than our entire team” Kurt sighed in defeat, “Cedric Diggory placed top of his class in several subjects, my dad knows how to build an engine from nothing and you picked me? Why?”

“I picked you because…”

“Because you see me through rose coloured glasses,” his voice was low making the words hang menacingly in the cool air, “And now you’re seeing bits of me around them, take them off; I’m a narcissistic know-it-all bitch with serious identity issues.”

Finn was defeated as he spoke, “I’ve never known that Kurt…”

“I used to be able to keep the cracks well hidden but I think that was because I didn’t know all of me, being just Kurt meant that a lot of it was just imagination.”

“Let’s be honest,” Finn chuckled throwing an arm over Kurt’s shoulder, “You were never ‘just Kurt’.”

“I think I’m going to get professional help.”

“Good on you,” there was a long and homely silence that was finally broken by Finn leaning in to whisper in his ear, “I’m growing hair in my special place.”

“You’re disgusting.”

~0~

By the time the group of friends had made the unanimous decision to go down to confront Hagrid about whether or not their suspicions about the Philosopher’s Stone were correct, the snow had melted and all that remained of winter was the biting breeze. Kurt was waiting for the Gryffindor trio outside in the courtyard, wrapped in his warm white pea coat. To say they had caught him unawares would be the understatement of the year, they had neglected to mention the invisibility cloak to him and he was quite surprised when a hand reached out and pulled him in to the veiled darkness; to call it a cloak would be misusing the word, it was a medium sized frameless tent.

They had managed walking under the thin veil of fabric reasonably well, aside from the two times Harry had elbowed him in the face and Hermione had stepped on his toes. By the time they reached the hut at the foot of the hills Kurt was glad to be free to walk at a speed greater than a slow trot.

When Hagrid answered the door he gave them a curt dismissive reply, Kurt had stuck hit foot into the doorjamb because he was wearing his indestructible combat boots. Ron and Harry had taken a page out of his and Hermione’s book, speaking succinctly in sync, “We know about the philosopher’s stone,” They had announced.

Hagrid had changed his mind in the moment and invited them into the hut; it was incredibly warm in the hut and Kurt had taken off his coat but thought twice before handing it to Hagrid who looked like he’d been giving an oil change to a lemon.

“So, you know about the stone?”

“It was simple to figure out once you let that bit about Nicolas Flemel slip,” Ron had said with little tact, Kurt had tried kicking him in the shin but that simply earned him a bewildered look from Hermione.

“What Ron means to say is that we were able to deduce it through cumulative evidence,” Kurt smiled at the blank look.

“We think Snape is going to steal it,” Harry announce without missing a beat.

“This is a claim based on circumstantial evidence.”

“Thank you Kurt,” Ron rolled his eyes at him, “Snape wants that stone, we just don’t know why.”

“I don’t know,” Hermione’s tone had a snark to match her disapproving facial expression, “the untold riches and ticket to immortality might be slightly tempting but I bet he wants to make earrings.”

She and Kurt had exchanged a triumphant high-five, “There’s a universal motive.”

“You kids need to stop all this accusing and speculating,” Hagrid had finally said, putting an abrupt end to their little forum, “Ain’tnobody stealing that stone, ain’t nobody getting past fluffy, end of story.”

“Hypothetically,” Kurt spoke out, “if someone as formidable as Snape were after the stone, they might easily outsmart a dog.”

“You listen to me,” the man was firm, as firm as someone like Hagrid could be, “Nobody knows how to sooth a beast like Fluffy except for me and Dumbledore.”

“Someone like Snape wouldn’t care about soothing fluffy,” Ron snapped his fingers and they all knew what he meant, it made Kurt’s stomach turn in knots.

Hagrid appeared equally shocked by the idea but soon returned to a looks of knowing ease, “There’s something else protecting the stone,” Hermione broke the ominous silence that had been brought on by Ron’s grim imagery, “Spells, enchantments and such?”

“Not that anyone would get past Fluffy.”

“That’s why you said Snape was protecting the stone,” Kurt had a sudden realisation, “He created one of the enchantments protecting the stone.”

Hagrid almost looked indignantly proud of himself, “Him, a handful of Hogwarts finest and me, that stone isn’t in any danger.”

“A handful,”Hermione didn’t quite ask the question but her tone was leading.

“Professors Sprout, McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape and Quirrel,” there was pride in his voice, “And me…” his face suddenly dropped and his eyes grew wide, “No more on that.”

“Really?” Harry had a chill in his voice, “you're cutting us off now? You're such a tease.”

“You chaps ought to be heading back up to the castle.”

“But you’ve been boiling water for tea,” Ron whined, “the least you could do is let us have a cup before sending us back out to the cold.”

“Why is it so warm in here?” Harry demanded as his glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose.

“Warm?” Hagrid feigned ignorance as sweat accumulated on his bushy brow, “It’s not warm in here.”

“Then why are you sweating?” Hermione demanded, the soft leading voice long gone.

“I’m nervous.”

“You're not convincing anyone with that argument,” Kurt said without a care.

“You can’t tell nobody about what I got here,” Hagrid’s voice had dropped to a whisper piquing Kurt’s interest. They all leaned in as they nodded their pledge of silence, “the pot, there’s an egg.”

“You’re making a boiled egg?”

Hagrid chuckled heartily as he got up, looking about in a bout of paranoia. He put on a pair of oven mitts and leaned into the pot, he placed an overgrown tope egg with an alluring shine on the table before them. Ron’s eyes widened knowingly, “is that?” was all he could manage as his mouth hung open; Hagrid seemed to be in an equal awe because he nodded but dared not speak.

“Is that what I think it is?” Ron demanded.

“It’s a dragon egg,” Hagrid smiled a goof wide toothy grin.

Kurt got to his feet and took a step back as the egg made a sound, “Dragon breeding is illegal in the United Kingdom,” he exclaimed clutching his coat to his chest, “And for good reason, they’re rated XXXXX by Newt Scamander; wizard killers, they’re impossible to train.”

“I’m gonna train mine up good.”

“They are impossible to train,” Kurt announced as he stayed a safe distance from the egg, it’s beauty wanted him to touch it but his wits told him better.

“My brother Charlie works with dragons in Romania,” Ron exclaimed almost defensively, “they train them.”

“They don’t train them,” Hermione corrected, “That is a reservation where they study dragons and control their population.”

“Where’d you get it?” Ron demanded.

“I won in a game of cards down at the Hog Head.”

The egg started to move and Kurt held his breath, cracks began to appear on the flawless enamel eggshell. The steady tapping had the group on their toes, eventually a dragon no bigger than a loaf of bread burst from the egg. Kurt’s eyes were wild as he watched the creature clumsily stumbled on the table top; its skin was the same tope as the shell but it didn’t look nearly as beautiful with the sheen of amniotic fluid and the sick translucency of a new born.

“Bloody hell,” Ron’s eyes were wide as saucers, “That’s a Norwegian Ridgeback.”

“Oh goodness me,” Hagrid howled giddily, “isn’t he beautiful?”

“Beautiful isn’t the word I’d use,” Hermione said in his place as he was still too frightened to speak, “Dangerous maybe.”

“None of that,” Hagrid scolded. The dragon turned to Hagrid and purred, “Oh goodness me, he knows his mommy. You’re such a good dragon Norbit.”

“Norbit?” Ron asked in confusion.

“He has to have a name, don’t he?”

“You're not very good at giving names,” Kurt finally spoke, “You named a savage three-headed dog ‘Fluffy’ and now you have a dragon named Norbit.”

“I’d expect something like Rhagnar,” Harry said with a giggle that earned him a bewildered look from the group, “He was a Viking war lord with dragons carved on his ships.”

“He’s Norbit,” Hagrid tickled the underside of the dragon’s head, at first he cooed happily along with the large man till he’d had his fill and retaliated with a small burst of flames that caught on Hagrid's beard. The smell of burning hair filled the air as Hagrid patted the small flames, “oh, he’ll need some training alright.”

“Let the record reflect that I think this is a bad idea.”

“You’re just paranoid, Norbit won’t hurt nobody and nobody’s going to find out about him,” Hagrid looked at him reassuringly till suddenly his breath caught, “That might be a problem though, who is that?”

Kurt turned to see a glimpse of a blond haired bulbous head that could only belong to one person, Harry said the name for him, “Malfoy.”

~0~

Kurt huffed out a defeated breath as they were led down toward Hagrid’s hut in the dark of night, “Don’t you think it’s ironic that we’re being punished for being out at night with being forced to go out late at night?” His peers all gave him a glare of doom as he giggled to himself, “the logic of it is what gets me.”

There was a lingering silence, none of them spoke but he could read each of them like an open book; Draco was defeated and angry because he’d hoped to get Harry in trouble but had not counted on getting himself in trouble as well, Ron blamed Kurt because Draco had obviously followed him to their location, Harry looked worried and it was probably justified as Hagrid had unknowingly broken the law, and Hermione was simply out of sorts in a foreign situation because she’d never been in any real trouble before.

Kurt wasn’t new to the idea of detention; he’d served under Professor Snape as many as a hundred times, he’d even done night detention with Hagrid before; as a result he was at total ease, his friends on the other hand were walking on eggshells. Mr Filch, who was leading them down to Hagrid’s hut, kept going on about the old days and how students were tortured for detention but all it did was serve to anger Kurt. By the time they reached the edge of the forbidden forest Kurt was moments from maiming the old fool, he was subdued by the sight of Hagrid looking miserable and defeated.

“Good evening Hagrid,” Kurt was weary of how he spoke, noting that the large man was obviously quite emotional; he received a mumbled response.

“Oh come on Hagrid,” Mr Filch didn’t seem able to garner any sympathy for or empathise with Hagrid in his current predicament, if anything it seemed the man treated him with contempt, “Not still blubbering about that bloody dragon are you?”

“What did Dumbledore do with him?” Hermione asked in a soothing voice not wanting to make the man feel any worse.

He finally managed an answer between violent fits of sobbing, “He sent him to a reservation in Romania.”

“Oh,” Hermione smiled for a moment before realising that this wasn’t a source of relief, “it’s for the best, he’ll be with his own kind.”

“And he’ll have wide open spaces to fly and grow into a big strong dragon,” Kurt added with a reassuring smile, too himself he thought how it was better that the dragon wasn’t anywhere near him.

“What if he don’t like Romania?” Hagrid exclaimed between large sniffs and finally blowing his nose like a large fog horn, “What if the other dragons are mean to him?”

“One does not simply not like Romania,” Kurt spoke in soothing tone with comforting words.

“My brother Charlie says it’s the best,” Ron tried to be reassuring but didn’t quite hit the mark.

“This is the worst punishment ever,” Draco sneered as he warmed his buns with the small bonfire, “I don’t feel the list bit repentant.”

“This isn’t your punishment,” Hagrid chuckled as he placed an arrow on the barrel of his oversized crossbowbut it was half hearted, “Your punishment’s in there.”

Kurt didn’t have to see where he pointed the tip of the arrow; he knew all too well that he’d be going in to the Forbidden Forest and it had his stomach turning in knots. He hoped he wouldn’t see anything dead this time.

“You have got to be kidding,” Draco exclaimed, “We can’t go in there, it’s… forbidden and there are… werewolves.”

“Werewolves are the least of your worries,” filch gave a guffaw of browned teeth that only aggravated Kurt’s acid reflux.

“I don’t think my father, a close personal friend of the Minister of Magic, would be pleased to hear that I was being treated this way.”

“You’ll have to be quite when we head into the forest,” Hagrid cleared his throat and gestured for them to follow him. Kurt hid his fear well but he was not in any mood to see another beautiful creature slain. It unmanned him to think that someone would hurt such a majestic creature; he was fair and powerful, would they slay him just as easily.

Like the time before, they reached a puddle of molten silver and Hagrid gave his lecture on what they would be doing that night. Kurt was mesmerised by the liquid, as he approached it seemed to stare blankly at him but he quickly shrugged it off; puddles didn’t stare, it was simply a bout of fatigue because of the extra hour he’d spent alternating between committing his notes to memory, recreational reading and Philosopher’s Stone watch.

“Okay, Harry and Hermione,” Hagrid interrupted his thoughts, and Kurt was grateful because of late he seemed to be slipping into a very emo mind set, “you're with me, the rest of you.”

“That doesn’t work for me,” Kurt said uneasily, “the groups are unbalanced.”

“Yeah,” Ron exclaimed triumphantly, “I’m with Kurt on this one.”

“I suggest this,” Kurt started moving people around to his own benefit, “Ron, you're with Hagrid; Hermione and I’ll go together; and finally Draco can go with Harry.”

“Okay,” Hagrid didn’t give it a moment’s thought before shrugging it off.

“We get the dog!” Draco demanded.

“Fine,” a small knowing smile crept on to Hagrid’s face, “I hope you know he’s a bloody coward. Wait, I’ve only got two lanterns.”

Hermione pulled out her wand and Kurt did the same, “Lumos,” they spoke the incantation at the same time and their ailment was solve with a simple flick of their wands, light.

They forked in three directions; Kurt was weary of their distance from the group before turning to his best friend for a long overdue conversation. Their study schedules allowed them very little time to talk about something other than that retched stone, this conversation was a long time coming and he knew it.

“I went to see Professor McGonagall the other day,” his voice was low, barely above a whisper but it was enough for Hermione.

“Oh,” Kurt was nervous but even he knew that wasn’t enough to earn a reply.

“Yeah, I’ve been feeling a little off and I…” he trailed off but stopped her when she started to speak, there were actual things to be afraid of out here in the dark, “I wanted her advice as deputy headmistress on seeing a shrink.” He blurted the words out on top of each other, “I made an appointment to see the school counsellor on her advisement.”

“Kurt,” Hermione’s initial response was shock but that soon melted into understanding, she didn’t know the entirety of it but he could tell that she understood his plight, “Kurt.”

The second ‘Kurt’ came out pained and distant, “I’m losing my mind; there are just too many unknown variables at play.”

“And I know you and the unknown.”

“I have no idea what my life is right now,” Kurt and Hermione were strolling along lazily at this point, “And I don’t know if I could still be the same person if I knew.”

“I hate to say this but if you want to be the same, that’ll never happen but I guess that’s a given with puberty.”

“Oh my gosh,” Kurt’s eyes grew wide, “We still have to do that!”

Hermione laughed along with him but their laughter was cut short by a distant shriek of fear that turned his blood cold, there was moment’s contemplation as to whether to run toward or away from the screaming. By the time Kurt decided for himself he was being lead toward it by Hermione at a reasonable pace as they avoided the exposed roots, Kurt could hear commotion in the distance before them.

By the time they came to the clearing there was nothing to be seen but Harry, a centaur and the slain unicorn; the commotion looked to be nothing more than a distant memory. The centaur was speaking to Harry but they weren’t close enough hear what he was saying, they edged closer to catch a snippet of what appeared to be a very titillating conversation.

“Firenze, I see you’ve met Mr Potter,” Hagrid’s booming voice waffled the remnants of what the centaur had to say, Kurt not that two more centaurs had appeared from the thicket of trees alongside Ron and Hagrid. When Kurt was no longer trying to eavesdrop, having established that he wouldn’t be able to decipher half a conversation, he was able to look at the centaurs properly for a moment; each was as a stunning as the last, they had the upper bodies of models and from the waist down they had the bodies of stallions. For a moment Kurt wondered what the biology behind their digestion was, did they have the internal organs of men or horses? He brushed the question off, deeming it too rude to be asked in polite company.

Kurt was silent as they centaurs accompanied them back to the edge of the forest, he wanted to know what had spooked Draco Malfoy into silence but knew that he would never get the truth out of the blond boy. He turned to Harry who seemed to be brooding, Firenze had clearly said something that had caused Harry great distress as he seemed to be in an automated state with his face screwed up to show that he was melting something over in his mind, but what?


	9. Chapter 9

Summer had officially arrived by the time they wrote their final exam, Kurt had been distracted by the idea of You-Know-Who’s proximity and the possibility that he may want to kill one of his good friends but he kept his cool and knew that he had done well. Soon he’d be going home and but right now he was soaking in the sun on his favourite day of the year; the twenty-seventh of May had decided to be extra beautiful this year.

Kurt, like most kids his age, loved having birthdays more than anything in the world because everyone else had to watch you having a good time. At breakfast Kurt had received a package from home, most didn’t pay it any mind due to its small size but it had just the thing Kurt wanted; jewellery, it was never too early to start a collection. Kurt looked down at the ring as he enjoyed the sun on his face, they’d just finished the last of the years school work and he was glad to be done, his summer training was just that much closer.

“I love that subject so much,” Kurt smiled as he buffed the emerald against his cloak; it shone even brighter in its home of white gold.

“That makes you the only one,” Ron draped a sweaty arm over his shoulder.

“I was surprised that we didn’t need to learn as much as we did,” Hermione sounded a little disappointed, “I learnt all that information about the sixteen thirty-eight werewolf code of conduct and none if comes out.”

“Yes, but now you know it!” Kurt chimed his words merrily.

“I don’t like twelve year old Kurt,” Hermione replied jokingly, “Much too merry for my taste.”

“He’s got good reason to be merry,” Ron added as they leaned on each other, “First year is practically over, we don’t have to revise anymore and we’re about to go on a nine week holiday.”

“A holiday that I’m spending in Kamchatka,” Kurt shimmied as he said the words, he knew in that instant that his time with Dr April Rhodes had been a good idea.

“Come on Harry,” Harry had been quite all along and it wasn’t sitting well with Ron who chose to reprimand him, “get excite, happy days are here again.”

“Come Catchya,” Harry’s voice was tired and defeated, “yay.”

“Boo!”

“What’s wrong Harry?” Hermione was using the voice Kurt had come to call her ‘mom voice’ because of its soothing qualities.

“My scar hurts.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask but isn’t ‘scar’ the wrong word for it?” the words came out before Kurt could stop them, “Is it not a gash because it isn’t healed and scar implies the inverse.”

They all gave him a weird look before turning back to the matter at hand, “Do you want to see Madam Pomfry?”

“It wouldn’t help,” Harry said with a sigh, “I think it’s a warning, that something bad is coming.”

“Snape wouldn’t dare try to steal the stone whilst Dumbledore was around,” Hermione said in her mom voice.

“And besides, we’re not sure he even knows how to get past Fluffy,” Ron added with a supportive nod, “I doubt he’d risk losing a leg, there’s nothing about the stone replacing limbs.”

They lay down under a large tree at the edge of the Black Lake, Kurt laughed to himself, “Do you think all eleven year olds are as morbid as we are?”

“Not a chance,” Ron chuckled, “They only think of rainbows and butterflies, we’re special.”

Kurt watched as Fred, George and a mocha skinned boy he wasn’t familiar with poked and prodded at the lake’s giant squid’s tentacles; the creature looked so beautiful from the dungeon windows as it swam lazy circles in the lake like a master of individual synchronised swimming.

“Fred and George are what? Fourteen?” Hermione asked with a giggle, “they haven’t a care in the world.”

Harry seemed to be too far in his own mind to participate in the conversation, “When this stone business is over, let’s be normal kids.”

“Fine by me,” Hermione nudged him with her knee, “I think my marks are suffering from all this extracurricular adventuring.”

“You're preaching to the choir,” Kurt raised a defeated hand, “I think I almost turned my mouse into a stone because of all this talk about that damned philosopher’s stone.”

“I don’t think McGonagall would have appreciated that,” Ron chuckled.

Kurt was content sitting in the warm sun in a comfortable silence when Harry shot to his feet with a chant of, “Oh my god, ohmy god, oh my god.”

Kurt groaned, “Harry, what’s wrong?” Hermione asked him looking confused.

The boy didn’t answer but rather started a brisk walk toward… Kurt wasn’t sure where exactly he was going. Ron was the first to follow; soon they were all following the boy in confusion.

“Do either of you have an idea what’s going on?” Ron whispered to the pair after they established that Harry wasn’t going to say anything to them; they both shook their heads.

“Why didn’t I see it earlier?” the boy asked himself as they emerged on the other side of the castle, “The one thing Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon and some guy show up in Hogsmead with an egg, which is illegal, and happens to stumble across Hagrid? Isn’t that a little suspicious to you?”

“Now that you mention it,” the other three students said at the same time.

Harry went on with his line of thought, “My guess is that it was Snape and he wanted to know how to get past Fluffy. It must have been so easy to get Hagrid drunk and milk him for information.”

It was only then that Kurt realised that they were heading toward Hagrid’s hut, the man was sitting outside in the sweltering heat. Hagrid was working on preparing peas to be cooked, seated in an over grown arm chair with his sleeves and pants rolled up. When he noticed them coming he looked happy to see them.

“Well, hello there.”

“What’d he look like?” Harry demanded.

“What’d who look like?” Hagrid was startled by the question.

“The guy you got the dragon egg from,” Harry spoke with evident desperation, “what did he look like?”

Hagrid gave the idea some thought, humming as he did so, “I don’t know, he kept his hood up.”

“That’s odd,” Kurt noted, “that wouldn’t be necessary indoors.”

“The Hog’s Head is full of strange folk,” Hagrid said dismissively, “stuff like that happens all the time there.”

“What did you talk about?” Harry demanded.

“Well, he asked what I did,” Hagrid was confused by the line of questioning, “I told him I was Game Keeper, we kept chatting. He asked what kind of creatures I’d raised, I told him a bit about that and that I’d always wanted a dragon. Then he told me he had an egg and would play me for it.”

“That’s it?”

“Well,” Hagrid's voice trailed off, “it’s hard to remember because he kept buying me drinks.”

“He bought you drinks?” Kurt raised a questioning brow.

“Yeah,” Hagrid shrugged it off and was quite for a moment with his face screwed up in deep thought, “Oh yes, he wanted to know if I‘d be up to raising a dragon. I told him, I said, after Fluffy there wasn’t a beast I couldn’t train.”

“Did he seem interested in Fluffy?” Hermione asked much more politely than Harry would have.

“Well, three-headed dogs aren’t as common as you’d think.”

“What’d you tell him about Fluffy?” Harry asked more calmly and slightly more politely.

“I told him, the trick to soothing a beast like Fluffy is to play him a bit of music and he’s out like a light,” Hagrid’s eyes widened, “I should not have told you that. I shouldn’t have told him that. Forget I said that.”

The group exchanged knowing looks before scurrying off toward the castle without exchanging any words, being out of the sun made the castle seem as cold as a winter breeze in comparison.

“We need to see Professor Dumbledore,” Harry said frantically.

“Follow me,” Kurt puffed out his chest in pride, “I know where his office is.”

As they scurried down the hall a sharp voice called out after them, “what are you four doing inside?”

They turned to see Professor McGonagall walking toward them, her hands full of books.

Kurt found the question to be odd but Hermione was already answering for them, “We have to see Professor Dumbledore.”

“Why do you have to see Professor Dumbledore?” the professor looked suspicious of their motives.

“It’s a secret,” Harry said, it took all Kurt had not to face palm at that stupid answer but he could see from the boy’s face that he regretted saying that as well.

“A secret?” McGonagall looked offended, “Well, your secret will have to wait; Professor Dumbledore has been summoned by the Ministry of Magic in London, he left ten minutes ago.”

“He’s gone?” Ron exclaimed.

“Now?” Harry wailed.

“Oh no,” Hermione gasped.

“Professor Dumbledore is a very busy man and a great wizard,” she spoke in a cold flat voice, “his council is revered by many.”

“But this is important!” Harry whined.

“What could you four possibly have to say that’s more important than the Ministry of Magic?”

“Not more important,” Kurt tried to sooth her as he now saw that she was their only hope now and the others seemed to be getting on her nerves, “Differently important.”

“It’s about the Philosopher’s Stone,” Harry said; the woman looked shocked, dropping the books she’d been carrying, “Sn-”

“Somebody’s going to try to steal it.” Kurt corrected, unsubstantiated accusations wouldn’t do them any favours.

“How did you find out about the Stone?” McGonagall stammered the words out in a breathy voice.

“That’s not important,” Hermione assured her, Kurt and Ron were working on picking up her books, “we need to see Professor Dumbledore.”

“Professor Dumbledore isn’t due to return till tomorrow,” she gave each a stern look, “I assure you all that the stone is well protected and I will hear nothing more of it, go and enjoy the sunshine.”

She walked off briskly with her pile of books balanced on her hip, as soon as she was out of ear shot Kurt prepared to rip his friends a new one for their stupidity but was pre-empted by Harry, “It’s tonight, Snape is planning on stealing that stone tonight and nobody is he wiser.”

“I bet he sent that owl to Dumbledore,” Ron added as he nodded his agreement, “the Ministry will probably be surprised to see him.”

“Snap know all he need-” Harry began but Kurt nudged him to be quiet as Snape approached the group.

“Good day,” his voice slow and menacing, “tell me, what a four young students like yourselves doing inside on a day like this?”

“Why does everyone keep asking us that question?” Kurt burst out, “Not everyone likes the sun.”

“You ought to be careful,” Snape ignored his outburst, “people might think you're up to something and you can’t afford to lose your house anymore points.”

The man strode off before anymore could be said, they watched him sashay away before Harry demanded they split in two; Kurt and Hermione were ordered to stake out the staff room.

They stood at the entrance for a moment in a strained silence, “I can’t believe that’s what they think we sound like.” Hermione complained.

“I know,” Kurt complained, “you don’t see us imitating them!” Kurt lowered his voice and spoke slowly, “ugh… quidditch is so amazing, books are stupid, and we’re too good to study.”

“They’ve never said those particular things but that’s the gist of their thought process,” Hermione giggled.

“And what do you suppose you’re doing here?” Kurt knew the voice to be Snape’s as it hit his ears.

“We’re waiting for Professor Flitwick,” Hermione said bravely.

“We were arguing about one of the questions on his exam,” Kurt added with a reassuring nod, “and we thought we might ask him about it.”

“I’ll go get him,” the man turned and entered the staff room again.

They were frantic for a moment as they tried to form conflicting but equally correct views on a question from the exam, when the two teachers emerged from the staff room they had their question ready. They posed their question but their eyes remained on Snape who was getting away from them, Kurt knew they’d failed at their task.

On the upside, Professor Fltiwick had told them that they’d scored the highest scores in the subject; each had scored over a hundred percent.

~0~

It was at dinner that his friends had shared their intentions to go after the stone in an effort to stop Snape from getting to it. Kurt had skulked about the darkened corridors with all the stealth he possessed on his way to the third floor corridor on the left side, Kurt knew that this was going to be a trying task they were undertaking but none the less he pressed on. He stood in a shadow, hidden from prying eyes, having taken caution not to be followed this time. Kurt felt the familiar unseen pulling and knew that his friends had arrived.

“Why are you late?” Kurt demanded.

“Neville held us up,” Ron said dismissively.

“Has Snape gone by?” Harry asked with wide eyes, “did you see him go by?”

“Of course not you fool,” Kurt snapped, “he would have seen and maimed me.”

They opened the room Fluffy was waiting in, the dog sniffed the air but seemed confused because he couldn’t see them; Harry started playing a wooden flute in tuneless mess, the three headed dog growled at the mess.

Kurt nudged the boy to desist his aggravating musical stylings, Kurt cleared his throat, “Frére Jacques, Frére Jacques, Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines! Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.”

The dog had drifted off to sleep but seemed to stir as silence washed over, he started singing imminently as his friends argued over who would go first, “Are you sleeping, Are you sleeping, Brother John?Brother John? Morning Bells are ringing! Morning Bells are ringing! Ding, Dang, Dong! Ding, Dang, Dong!”

The final ‘dong’ had been elongated by the long drop, Kurt was silenced by his plush collision with a plant of sorts.

“Good thing this plant was here to break our fall,” Ron cheered loudly, “Let’s talk about that song though.”

“It’s a common song,” Hermione giggled, “I seem to remember singing it with my prep school choir.”

“It was silly,” Ron chuckled.

“It saved your life,” Harry didn’t seem the least bit amused.

“It was the first song that came to my mind,” Kurt blushed, he noted that the plant seemed to be moving to wrap itself around them, slowly squeezing them tightly, “Is it just me or is this plant really handsy.”

“The latter,” Hermione said in a breathy exasperated voice, she clawed her way out of its reach, “It is devil snare, it kind of works like the quick sand.”

“It’s going to drown us?” Ron screeched as he struggled against the vines.

“No,” Kurt remembered the Herbology lesson Professor Sprout had given on the plant, he also recalled answering a question about it, “if you struggle it only squeezes you more tightly quicker.”

“I don’t think you should have told them that,” Hermione said as Ron and Harry struggled against the vines that were strangling them, “Devil Snare, it hates the warmth and sunlight.”

“light a fire!” Harry screamed.

“No,” Kurt screamed, “my hair will smell like smoke!” The vines squeezed around him more tightly as he tried to get hold of his wand, “Okay burn it!”

“Incendio,” Hermione pointed her wand at the vine plant, the plant shrieked as it retreated from the jet of flames being expelled by her wand.

“Good thing Hermione pays attention in Herbology,” Harry said without so much as a small smile as they left the plant behind to lick it’s wounds.

“Good thing we all kept our heads,” Ron giggled.

The quartet moved through a narrow tunnel that barely fit two preteens abreast, it seemed to be leading them further down into the bowels of the school. Kurt had his wand held out to light the way for the group so they wouldn’t trip over the loose cobblestone floor.

When they re-entered the light they were standing in a large chamber with a large flock of birds flying in the upper quartile of the room, Kurt tilted his head as he tried to identify the species of birds.

“Are those things going to attack you if you try to cross the room?” Ron asked in a quivering voice.

“I don’t know,” Harry spoke in hoarse whisper, “Don’t follow till I say it’s okay.”

Harry ran across the room but nothing happened, the strange creatures didn’t pay Harry any mind as he crossed the room.

“Maybe the creatures are just a pest infestation of sorts,” Hermione said dismissing their presence;it was only when they approached the door that they realised it was locked.

“Alohomora,” Hermione tried but the door didn’t budge.

Kurt took his turn, with wand in hand, pointed it to the door, “Bombarda!”

The blast rebounded off the door and blasted Kurt across the room, the pain that shot through his back was blinding.

“Are you alright?” Harry asked, emotion returning to his voice for the first time.

“My ego is hurt more than anything,” Kurt made no effort to get up, looking up to the ceiling as his vision started to clear, “I think I might have a concussion again, I’m seeing flying keys.”

“They’re keys!” Hermione announced triumphantly, she pointed to three broomsticks floating at the edge of the room, “I think we’re supposed to catch them.”

“You go,” Kurt giggled nervously, “I don’t actually know how to fly.”

“How do you not know how to fly?” Ron asked in bewilderment.

Kurt twiddled his thumbs as he lay on the ground with a goofy smile, “I never went to any of the classes, now go!”

Kurt watched his three friends mounting their brooms and they were off just as quickly. Kurt watched as they swished about the room near the ceiling, chasing the keys at random. Kurt got up and walked to the door to inspect the door handle, “The key will probably be old looking and silver with rust.”

“I see it!” Harry announced zealously as he swept across the room toward the large key; Kurt saw now why the boy was made seeker but it wasn’t very time efficient, he thought to use magic for a moment then thought better of it when he remembered the pain in his tailbone. Harry exercised his flying prowess along with a little bit of smarts to catch the key, they unmounted their brooms and opened the door in a single elegant move.

“Let’s never do that ever again,” Kurt said in a tired voice as they walked down a second hallway in a single file line, this one narrower than the last.

“I kind of enjoyed the flying,” Ron said cockily.

“I mean trying to take short cuts,” Kurt rubbed at his lower, “I don’t think I’ll ever walk like a used to.”

“Oh come off it,” Hermione shoved him playfully in the darkness.

The lights came on and they appeared to be on a chess board, Kurt groaned at the thought of having to jump through another hoop.

“Do we have to play our way across the board?” Hermione asked wearily.

Ron placed a hand on a black playing piece and asked it the same question before returning to them with a grim nod, “Hermione, you take the queen’s spot.”

“Why not me?” Kurt demanded, “if any of us is regal, it’s me!”

“It doesn’t really matter,” Harry screamed at them, Kurt hung his hands up apologetically in defeat.

“Kurt, you can be the queen,” Ron rolled his eyes, “Harry, queenside bishop. Hermione, you’ll have to be the queenside rook. Me, I’ll be a knight.”

“Oh look, a big shot knight,” Kurt and Hermione giggled.

“Someone get him a Noddy badge,” the two giggled once more.

Ron rolled his eyes, “White plays first, then it on.”

A single white pawn moved two spaces forward and Kurt knew he was in for a treat; he’d never played any kind of chess, let alone wizard’s chess. All he knew of the game was what he’d heard and seen for lack of interest.

“You there,” Ron pointed to a pawn, they all turned to check if he meant them, “D-seven to D-five.”

The pawn glided forward across two squares, this piece was immediately attacked by the diagonally opposite pawn; the loud boom startled Kurt half out of his wits. The game seemed to take flight from that point forward, Kurt regretted demanding the role of queen; he had been required to walk all about the board, having claimed the most active piece on the board. Kurt had knock a couple of pieces off the board but had seen more than twice that many taken by the other pieces on the board; Kurt had a recurring sliver of fear for his own wellbeing and that of his friends in a dangerous game of sorts.

“You know what has to happen now,” Ron spoke in a grim but level voice.

Harry gave a curt knowing nod, Hermione swished her head back and forth between the pair, “what’s going on here?”

“Ron’s going to sacrifice himself,” Harry’s voice was riddled with concern.

“There must be another way,” Hermione whined.

“You’re not going to be hurt are you?” Kurt asked the boy.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ron proclaimed, “it’s you, Harry, you’ll stop Snape; not me, not Hermione, you.”

“What the fuck am I?” Kurt asked loudly, “Chopped liver.”

“Knight to H-three,” the horse Ron was riding made its ‘L’ formation slowly, stopping just short of the white queen. The queen turned to face the red haired boy with a menacing slowness that made Kurt realise the sense of urgency of their predicament, when she move to attack she was swift. Kurt saw Ron falling but didn’t recall the attack; Kurt wasn’t usually one to care about other people, least of all Ron Weasley, but he felt compelled to see of the boy was alright as he was tossed off the board.

Kurt stood and watched Harry move to a check mate; the king took of his crown, got to his knees and bowed. They all moved to Ron’s side as soon as the game was over, the boy was breathing shallowly but he’d quite clearly been knocked out.

“I’m going to take him to the hospital wing,” Kurt heard himself saying, “I’ll be back with help, the two of you should go on.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Hermione’s tone pleaded with him, “You’re better skilled.”

“All I’ve done is sing,” Kurt pointed out, “Also, I’m hell scared to face Professor Snape or possibly He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Dumbledore will believe me, we’re tight like that.” Kurt saw that they didn’t realise the sense of urgency that their mission needed, “If you don’t go now Voldemort will already have the stone by the time you get to him and he’ll be next to impossible to kill.”

Kurt pointed sternly for them to go; he pulled out his wand as he watched them go, he said the words for a levitation spell and Ron’s limp body slowly got off the ground.

Kurt walked briskly toward the first chamber, ignoring the flying keys, tossing a flame toward the devil snare and realising he had no way up; he immediately regretted not learning to fly. Kurt laid Ron gently on the ground and ran back through the rooms in a blur, he reached the chess board and looked around the reassembled board for something he could use, he walked over to a pawn.

“Give me your shield,” He demanded.

“Can’t do,” the piece replied, “Without this shield I can’t defend myself.”

“This is chess,” Kurt gave the piece an indignant stare, “you can’t defend yourself.”

The piece gave Kurt a defeated shrug and handed him the shield that was almost as large as he was, Kurt bowed a thank you and hurried back to where Ron lay unconscious. He rolled the flame haired boy onto the shield, stood next to him on the stone shield and slowly levitated them up toward the trap door whilst beginning to sing the same childish song that had helped them once before.

Kurt ran down the corridor, the levitating stone shield housing his unconscious friend was in close tow as he made his way toward the hospital wing. As he navigated the castle at high speed he got the shock of his life when he ran into the person he least expected to see.

“Mr Hummel,” Professor Snape seemed just as surprised to see him, “What on earth are you and Weasley doing out of bed?”

“Someone went after the philosopher’s stone,” Kurt announced breathlessly, the stone shield hit the ground with a thud as his concentration wavered, “We tried to tell McGonagall but she didn’t believe us so we decided to go after them ourselves, then Ron got hurt playing wizards chess.”

“YOU DID WHAT!?!” the man whispered the shout but the anger was all there, “Follow me!”

The man picked up Ron bridal style and walked with intention toward the hospital wing, he gave a sharp rap on the door.

“Severus?” Madam Pomphry rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, Professor Snape pushed past her and laid Ron on the bed.

“He suffered a great fall and hit his head,” Kurt said when he was ushered to speak, Madam Pomphry seemed to take these words as her cue to begin her work.

Professor Snape gestured for Kurt to follow him as he took long strides toward the third floor corridor, with little regard for Fluffy’s wellbeing he cast the dog aside with a single flick of his wand. The man’s superior knowledge and mature thought process were evident in his precise use of the correct spells, electing to use a charm to slow his decent as opposed to falling blindly as they had. They had managed their way through every obstacle without the smallest ounce of effort, Kurt’s doubts about Snape’s involvement were validated when the chess pieces yielded to him showing that Dumbledore must have had the utmost confidence in him.

They came to a room that was new to Kurt and they bumped into Hermione, she was battling to get by a troll more than double the size of the one he’d defeated in the girl’s bathroom.

“Kurt,” She smiled at him but her eyes grew wide when she spotted Professor Snape, “Oh my god!”

Professor Snape had defeated the troll as effortlessly as he had the other enchantments, after which he drew his cloak up over his face so that he was faceless, cautioning them to be silent.

He had extinguished the purple flames, walked into the small chamber and extinguished the black flames the way forward, paying no mind to the vials on the table. The sight that greeted Kurt was horrific; Professor Quirrell was bent over Harry with severe burns on his face… one of his faces, and most of his exposed skin. Kurt looked away for a moment but out the corner of his eye he saw Professor Snape, completely covered with no identifiable feature, throw the man aside with a flick of his wand. Kurt to see that Quirrell lying lifeless on the ground; as he tried to look everywhere but at the corpse he took the circular room in for its plain drab self, noting only the elaborate mirror standing solitary in the room.

Professor Snape carried Harry’s limp body like he had Ron, gesturing for Him and Hermione to follow him as if to say, ‘the battle is over.’

~0~

Kurt had told the story of his birthday twice in the subsequent time they had at school; the first time had been when Professor Dumbledore had called the four of them into his office for meeting, having spoken to each of them individually he had decided to hear the group’s collective take. The tale was wild when they shared the role of story teller, they had eached down played it individually but as a collective the true craziness of their adventure had become evident. Kurt had learned that he could be brave too but he must have known that earlier because his friends had reminded him that he’d once defeated a troll, a detail that escaped his mind because he knew that had been hubris as opposed to bravery.

They had become school celebrities for the fifteen minutes it had lasted. Celebrity though had been halted by their exam results, everyone had become too preoccupied by their academic development to care about them. Kurt had done very well in all his exams, he’d place top in his house and second in their year; Hermione had done better in all their theory exams but he had dominated the practical sector.

When the year had closed Kurt had packed his stuff enthusiastically, he was excited for summer school. Draco Malfoy had almost burst into flames when Kurt had received his letter from the Minister of Magic permitting him to practise magic over the summer as opposed to the slips everyone else got commanding them to do the complete opposite.

The end of year feast had been decorated beautifully in emerald green and silver to celebrate Slytherin’s triumphant seventh consecutive win of the House Cup, Kurt had been forced by Professor Snape explicitly to sit with his peers. The dinner had almost looked appetising for once; Kurt had sat quietly and tried not to burst into flames from unrelated excitement, silently eating his meal.

“It’s hard to believe that another school year has come to a close at Hogwarts,” Professor Dumbledore stood in a sapphire blue cloak with a serious expression on his face, “The time has come for the house cup to be awarded; in fourth place we have Gryffindor with three hundred twelve points, in third place is Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty-two points, Ravenclaw is in second place with four hundred and twenty-six points and in first place with four hundred and seventy-two points is Slytherin. Congratulations Slytherin house.”

The congratulations was half hearted but the Slytherins cheered none the less, Kurt some of the seventh years boasting about how the house had won every year they’d been at Hogwarts.

“However,” Professor Dumbledore spoke over the rumble commanding silence, “Recent events must be taken into account. For the cool use of intellect under pressure, I award fifty points to Hermione Granger. I award fifty points to Ron Weasley, for the greatest game of wizards chess this school has ever seen. Harry Potter will be awarded sixty points for pure nerve and outstanding courage.”

The Gryffindors cheered loudly as they noted that they’d tied with Slytherin house, “Finally, it takes great courage to stand up to your enemies and even greater courage to stand up to your friends; to Neville Longbottom I award twenty points,” there was a loud roar from the Gryffindor table as they realised that they’d surpassed Slytherin house, every Slytherin’s smile had fallen from their face, “If my calculations are correct,” Professor Dumbledore met his gazefor a moment, “I believe a change of decorations is in order.”

He waved his hands and the emerald green turned ruby red, the silver turned gold and the serpent of Slytherin was replaced by the Gryffindor lion, “Well done Gryffindor!”

The other three houses cheered loudly, ecstatic that Slytherin’s winning streak had ended. Gregory Goyle had leaned with his normal confused facial expression, “What about you?”

“Me?” Kurt asked scoffing loudly, “I was apparently in bed.”

~0~

It seemed to Kurt that as quickly as the year had begun, it was over. Kurt and Finn had boarded the Hogwarts express together once more but there were no tears this time, even as the scarlet steam engine took off Kurt knew that they’d be back soon enough. The brothers had decided to split for the trip, spending the last few moments with their friends. Kurt had quickly found Harry, Hermione and Ron, joining them for the voyage back to the real world as he might have once called it but now it seemed to be make believe.

As the towns whizzed by the window, Kurt thought about the past year and how much things had changed; a year ago Kurt hadn’t so much as suspected that he was a wizard and now he was one of the best in his year at it, he’d played a minor role in keeping one of the wizarding world’s terrorists at bay and he’d even taken to the lingo. Learning about this whole new side of him had been an adventure, one he’d only begun because Finn had made him believe that it was true; the thought of sixth grade seemed foreign to him now but a year ago he’d been excited about going to Eton like his father had before him but now it was hard to imagine himself in a uniform other than the Hogwarts uniform.

A lot of things had changed in his life, of that Kurt was positive but it seemed one of the biggest changes for Kurt was that for the first time in his life, his lineage had become a factor in his life and he was doing something about it. He’d seen the school counsellor and began investigation into solving the unknowns in his life, Kurt had been compelled to divulge every detail of his long life with hope that he would get some answers; Kurt had taken a very mature decision with regard to this topic but he knew that he wasn’t ready to grow up completely.

The other major change was much more obvious to see, he had friends his own age; he wasn’t isolated in the clique mentality of muggle schooling. He and Hermione had formed a lasting friendship based on the many similarities; a luxury he had never been afforded before, but he guessed it wasn’t everyday he met someone the least bit like him. Kurt had been a lone wolf before, content to pass the days on his own, but now the thought of living without his friends seemed like monumental catastrophy.

“What are you thinking about?” Hermione asked him with a playful nudge in the ribs, he’d been quiet longer than he’d ever dared to be before.

“We still get to do this for another six years,” Kurt beamed with a smile that touched each ear, “but hopefully next year won’t be as… exciting.”

Ron smiled and rubbed the ugly yellow bruise above his elbow, “I could do without the bruising but I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to match this year.”

“A normal school year sounds like fun,” Harry growled excitedly waving his bandaged wrist about as he imagined it, “just worrying about normal kid things.”

Ron let out a pleasured growl of agreement, Hermione giggled a high, “Wouldn’t it be lovely?”

“I take it back,” Kurt announced putting an immediate end to their dreaming, “Do you have any idea how boring that would be? Besides do you know what people our age are worrying about?”

Kurt was met with a sea of blank of stares, “Puberty! I personally wouldn’t mind a distraction.”

“You’d have to start liking girls,” Hermione teased soliciting a grimace from each of the boys, she burst into a fit of laughter.

“Do you think growing boobs is fun,” her facedropped as Kurt laughed till his ribs hurt, they soon settled into a comfortable silence.

It was Hermione who broke the silence, “you guys better write or I am going to disowning you as friends.”

“I will right every opportunity I get,” Kurt promised, this was what the stationary set had been for, “if I stop writing then know that I’ve fallen into a volcano and died.”

“A bit grim but it works for me,” Hermione smirked and move to ruffle his hair, she hand stopped in mid-air as his gaze met her own.

“I’ll write,” Ron assured them, “but if Errol dies on the way that’s not on me.”

“I guess death is the theme for our excuses,” Hermione’s eyes were slits from how hard she was laughing.

Harry smiled to himself, “If I don’t write then Voldemort has come back and killed me.”

Shocked faces filled the compartment, Ron was the only one who managed to speak, “Too soon bro.”

It seemed to Kurt that in the short space between September and now Kurt had done so much; he’d learned magic, travelled to the far east, become world ranked at something, made friends, had a flirtationship with a cute boy and finally found someone even smarter than he was- it seemed the only thing he hadn’t done was get taller.


End file.
